THE
ENTOMOLOGIST
^n lUustrateti Journal / 5 /
GENERAL ENTOMOLOGY.
EDITED BY RICHARD SOUTH, F.E.S.
WITH THE ASSISTANCE OF
ROBERT ADKIN, F.E.S. W. F. KIRBY, F.L.S., F.E.S
W. LUCAS DISTANT, F.E.S., &c. G. W. KIRKALDY, F.E.S.
EDWARD A. FITCH, F.L.S., F.E.S. W. J. LUCAS, B.A., F.E.S.
F. W. FROHAWK, F.E.S. . Dr. D. SHARP, F.R.S., F.E.S., &c
MARTIN JACOBY, F.E.S. | G. H. VERRALL, F.E.S.
"By mutual confidence and mutual aid
Great deeds are done and great discoveries made."
VOLUME THE THIRTY-FIFTH.
LONDON:
WEST, NEWMAN & CO., 54, HATTON GARDEN,
SIMPKIN, MARSHALL, HAMILTON, KENT & CO., Limited.
1902.
^V
0^ «K,fl/'
P'
LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS.
Adkin, Egbert, F.E.S., 45
Alderson, Miss E. Maude, 75
Alderson, Mrs. M., 266
Allen, J. E. B., 268
Anderson, Joseph, 322
Ansorge, E. C, 322
Arkle, J., 118
Bagwell-Pdrefoy, E., 301
Bankes, Eustace E., M.A., F.E.S., 194,
320
Barrett, J. P., 242, 243
Beeston, S. J., 144
BiGNELL, G. C, F.E.S., 322
Birch, Frederick, 5, 175
Blenkarn, Stanley A., 323
Boxer, C. E. Y., 326
Bradley, Henry H. Benton, 143
Browne, G. B., 267, 270, 288
Brown, Henry H., 219, 267
Burton, William, 219
Butler, W. E. 285, 287, 288
Cameron, Peter, 18, 38, 108, 179, 206,
237, 263, 312
Cardinall, A. W., 266
Carr, F. M. B., 75, 145, 172, 218, 247
Chapman, Dr. T. A., F.Z.S., F.E.S., 42,
81, 138, 159, 225, 252
Charles, Herbert, 242
Christy, W. M., M.A., F.Z.S., F.L.S.,
F.E.S., 146
Claxton, Eev. W., 326
Cockayne, E. A., 219
Cockeeell, T. D. a., F.Z.S., 15, 58,
111, 114, 177, 194, 232, 257, 285, 317
Colthrup, C. W., 320, 322
Dale, C. W., F.E.S., 115, 170, 286, 323
Davis, M. J. L., 115
Day, Geo. 0., 144
Distant, W. L.. F.E.S., 212, 256
Dodd, F. p., 16, 17, 43, 44, 73, 1.53,
184, 194
Donovan, Capt. C, M.D., F.E.S., Ac, 10
Donovan, E. J. F., 10
Douglas, James, 24, 25
Faye, H. G., 322
FiNzi, J. A., F.E.S., 195
Fitch, Eichard J., 244
Forsythe, C. H., 246
FouNTAiNE, Margaret E., F.E.S., 60, 97
Freke, Percy E., F.E.S., 197
Frohawk, F. W., F.E.S., &c., 27, 285,
286, 297
Glover, Eev. George, 218
Goodwin, Edward, 195
Goss, Herbert, F.L.S., F.E.S., &c., 149,
293, 327
GouLTON, E. C, 267
Graham, Stephen, 269
Green, E. Ernest, F.E.S., 202
Haggart, J. C, 172
Hampson, Sir George F., Bart., B.A.,
F.Z.S., F.E.S., 193
Hansen, Dr. H. J., 214, 234, 260
Hardy, Walter E., 266
Harrison, J. W., 173
Harvey-Jellie, B., 73
Hicklin, B., 244
Hill, J. & W., 27
Hitchcock, F. N., 288
Hodge, Harold, 268, 285, 286
Hodson, Lawrance S., 287
Hooker, W. G., 323
Imms, a. D., 157
Jacoby, Martin, F.E.S., 203
Jager, J., 287
Jefferys, T. B., 76
Job, Herbert S., 220
Johns, E. J., 219
Johnson, C. F., 47, 266
Jourdain, Francis C. E., 267
Kaye, W. J. K., F.E.S., 334
Kemp, S. W., F.E.S., 268
Kirby, W. F., F.L.S., F.E.S., 22, 80
Kirkaldy, G. W., F.E.S., 32, 56, 63,
128, 136, 151, 152, 164, 176, 199, 214,
224, 234, 248, 260, 272, 280, 296, 315,
316, 319, 334
Laddiman, E., 266
Lang, Eev. Henry Charles, M. D.,
F.E.S., &c., 228
Lawrance, A. J., 23, 242, 287, 291
Leigh, G. F., F.E.S., 74, 243, 321
LiTTLEWooD, Frank, 44
Lucas, W. J., B.A., F.E.S., 33, .53, 79,
80, 116, 127, 147, 151, 183, 266, 268,
294, 295
Marshall, A., 28
Mathew,GervaseF.,E.N.,F.L.S.,F.E.S.
197
May, Albert, 195
Meade-Waldo, G., 196
Meldola, Prof. E., F.E.S., F.E.S., 244
Middleton, B. L., 27, 321
Milton, F., 25, 26
Nash, W. Gifford, 172
Newman, L. W., 25
Newman, T. P., 322
Nix, John A., 197
Nurse, Major C. G., F.E.S., &c., 304
Oldaker, F. a., 121, 218, 285, 326
Pallas, M., 74
Perks, H., 244
PiLCHER, Colonel J. C, F.E.C.C, 39
Porritt, Geo. T., F.Z.S., F.E.S., 27,
145
Prest, E. E. B., 289
IV
LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS.
Pyett, Claude A., 2, 241
Quail, Ambrose, F.E.S., 57
Eaynor, Eev. Gilbert H., 45, 288
EOBERTSON, E. B., 323
EosA, A. F., M.B., CM., 93
Eowland-Brown, H., M.A., F.E.S., 30,
49, 78, 122, 149, 174, 198, 202, 223,
292
Eussell, G. W., 244
Eydon, A. H., 286
Sabine, E., 115
Seth-Smith, L. M., 24
Sharpe, Miss Emily Mary, 40, 65, 101,
135, 276, 308
Shaw, V. E., 196
Shepheard-Walwyn, H. W., F.E.S., 323
SiCH, Alfred, F.E.S., 43
Sladen, Eev. C. A., 74, 242, 244, 273
Smallman, Ealeigh S., 220
Smith, Geoffrey, 7, 69, 89
Sopp, E. J. Burgess, F.E.S., 126, 150, 332
South, Eichard, 2, 23, 25, 45, 74, 74,
127, 143, 144, 156, 170, 200, 220, 221,
243, 244, 267, 268, 284, 285, 321
Spencer, L. A., 266
Stockwell, H. Douglas, 25
Sweeting, H. W., 287
Tait, E., 14
Tetley, J. B., 144
Thurnall, a., 129, 167, 188, 208, 265
TowELL, P., 285
Turner, Hy. J., F.E.S., 31, 51, 78, 124,
149, 175, 199, 223, 272, 294, 329
Wainwright, Colbran J., F.E.S., 52,79,
125, 150, 219, 223, 249, 330
Walker, Eev. F. A., D.D., F.E.S., 116,
147
Waller, F. G., 194
Woodforde, F. C, B.A., F.E.S., 275
WOODGATE, H., 323
Wright, T., 25, 74
PLATES.
PAGE
to face 33
I. — Nymph of Oxygastra ciirtisii
II. — Group : Members of the Entomological Society of London at Oxford 201
III. — Bleriania argentifera • . 249
IV. — Larva and Pupa of Liphyra hrassolis 297
ILLUSTEATIONS IN THE TEXT.
Some Aberrations of British Butterflies captured in 1901
Lucanus cervus
Vanessa atalanta ........
Acidalia mar(jinepunctut(i ......
1
53
53
156
INSTRUCTIONS to BINDER.— The SPECIAL INDEX, given with
the 'Entomologist' for January, 1903, belongs to this Volume, and
should be placed next to to this General Index.
INDEX.
GENERAL.
Aberration of Vanessa urticffi, 23, 265 ;
Zygaena minos, 265
Aberrations of British Butterflies cap-
tured in 1901, Some, 1
Abundance of Melitaaa aurinia in Co.
Westmeath, 27
Acherontia atropos in Westmoreland, 43
Acidalia marginepunctata ab. (fig.), 156,
219
Agrilus sinuatus in Hampshire, 288
Agrotis cinerea, 322
Agrotis obehsca — a correction, 288
Amphidasys betularia var. doubledayaria
in Essex, 197
A new genus of South African Coccidte,
15
Apamea ophiogramma at Balliam, 267
Aporia crataegi in Kent, 243
Are cocoons waterproof ? 241
Asphalia diluta in Chester district, 164
Autumnal emergence of Cerigo cytherea,
23
Bat killing a moth at sugar, 73
Bilateral asymmetry in male appendages
of a Sphinx, 173
Blatta australasiae in South Derbyshire,
267
British Museum Collection of British
Lepidoptera, The, 193
British Orthoptera, 219 ; Tachinidffi, 219
Butterflies collected in Equatorial Africa
by Captain Clement Sykes, On the,
276, 308 ; in Mid-Surrey, Easter, 1902,
144 ; of the Witherslack district, 245 ;
of Syria and Palestine, A few notes on
some of the, 60, 97
Butterfly collecting in Southern Anda-
lusia in the spring of 1902, 228
Calocarapa exoleta. Note on, 195
Carnivorous Lycenid larvas. On, 202
Catalogue of the Lepidoptera of Ireland,
115
Cerastis erythrocephala near Bourne-
mouth, 323
Chariclea delphinii, 25
Choerocampa celerio, 44; in Hampshire,
287
Chrosis bifasciana in Surrey, 244
j Chrysophanus dispar. Haw., 321
■ Classification of Gracilaria and allied
I genera, 81, 138, 159
i Coccidte, South African, 15
Coccid genus Aulacaspsis. The, 58
Coleoptera, 151, 152
Colias edusa at Bexhill, 285 ; in Corn-
; wall, 286 ; in Essex, 244 ; in Kent,
j 322 ; in Surrey, 266 ; in Sussex, 285 ;
! in the New Forest, 322 ; in Wales,
I 244 ; near Norwich, 266
I Colias edusa and hyale in 1902, 197
I Colias hyale and C. edusa in Kent, 285
i Colias hyale and Sphinx convolvuli in
I Wiltshire in 1901, 74
I Colias hyale near Dartford in 1902, 115
I Collecting at Deal, 246, 269 ; near Tan-
i gier in August and September, 195
I Colour changes in larval hairs of Arctia
villica, 194
Contribution to the classification of the
Coccidffi, 232, 257
Correction, 27
Cyaniris argiolus, Two notes on, 44
Cyaniris (Lycena) argiolus in West-
minster, 266 ; Note on a habit of, 43
Cymatophora octogesima (ocularis) and
Plusia moneta in Middlesex, 220
Deilephila livornica in South Devon,
larva of, 287, 322
Description of a new Grasshopi^er from
Natal (Pomatonota bipunctata, Kirb.),
22
Description of a new species of Cicadid.e
from Ceylon, 256
Descriptions of two new genera and
thirteen new species of Ichneumonidre
from India, 18
Descriptions of two new species of the
genus Planema from the Uganda Pro-
tectorate, 135
Dieycla oo in Kent, 267, 287 ; in Middle-
sex, 287
Diptera, 32, 151
Ditula semifasciana and Antithesia
salicella in Surrey, 220
Dragonflies in 1901, 33 ; in the Norfolk
Broads, 146
Dragonfly in London, 323
VI
INDEX.
Early appearance of Euchelia jacobsese,
144
Earwig (Labidura riparia) at Pokesdown,
The large, 268
Emergence of Anthera3a from the Co-
coon, The, 143; MelanijDpe galiata in
December, 45
Ennomos erosaria and Himera pennaria,
322
Entomological Club, The, 45
Erratum, 152
Erythromma naias in Berks, 268
Essex Dragonliies, 116
Eupithecia jasioneata in North Wales,
268 ; trisignaria in Scotland, 197
Fauna of Mexico (Bees and Coccidte),
Additions to, 177
Five days collecting at Deal, 246
Food-plants of the larva of Cnephasia
sinuana, Steph., 194, 265, 320
Formation of Pattern on eggshell of a
species of Lepidoptera, 57
Fortnight at Deal, A, 269
Gall-making Cynipidffi, Description of a
new sjjecies of, 38
Genera and species of Hymenoptera,
On some new, 108, 79, 206, 237, 263,
312
Genus Clunio, Hal., Notes on the, 157
Genus of South African Coccidse, A new,
15
Gonepteryx rhamni ab., 284
Gonepteryx rhamni and cleopatra in
Ireland, 301
Gonepteryx rhamni in November, 323
Gordius in a butterfly, 42
Grasshopper from Natal, A new, 22
Gynandromorphism in Diptera, 32
Gynandrous Argynms paphia, 242
Gynandrous examples of Amphidasys
betularia, 72
Gynandrous (Hermaphrodite) specimen
of Argynnis paphia, 291
Gynandrous example of Lyctena icarus,
218
Gynandrous specimen of Agrotis puta,
121
Gynandrous specimen of Anthocharis
cardamines, 197
Habits of Macrothylacia (Bombyx) rubi,
On the, 24
Harpella bracteella, 75
Hawk -moth pupating in branches of
trees, 73, 194 ; on trees, 321
Hedya lariciana in Surrey, 220
Hepialus humuli var. thulensis, New-
man, 170
Hybrid Malacosoma castrensis x M.
neustria, 122
Hydrelia uncula in Surrey, 220
Hymenoptera, 151
Hymenoptera-Aculeata of the Oxford
district, 74
Ichneumonidse from India, 18
Ichneumon in Zygasna trifolii, 241
Insecta of Surrey, 143
Instrument with which Moths of the
genus Antherfea cut out of their hard
cocoons, 16
Iphiclides (Papilio) podalirius in Lan-
cashire, 219
LarviB and pupte of Plusia moneta in
London, 220
Larvffi in Durham, 173
Larvffi of Chrysophanus phlreas. Note
on. 114
Ijarvae of Cossus ligniperda at Vauxhall,
144
Larva of Liphyra brassolis, Westw., On
the, 225, 252
Lasiocampa quercifolia in London, 244
Late appearances, 323
Late emergence of Cucullia asteris, 287
Lecanopsis dugesi. The Coccid, 194
Lepidoptera, 32, 151, 152
Lepidoptera at the New Forest in June,
289
Lepidoptera at Witherslack, 47
Lepidoptera collected by Dr. Cuthbert
Christy in Nigeria, A list of, 65, 101
Lepidoptera-Heterocera of Paris, 116
Lepidoptera in Eoss-shire in 1901, 145
Lepidoptera in Suffolk in 1901, Notes
on, 2
Lepidoptera of County Cork, 10
Lestes dryas at Hanwell, Middlesex,
268
Lestes dryas at Wicken, 268
Life-history of Liphyra brassolis, Westw.,
Contribution to the, 153, 184
Life-history of Vanessa antiopa, 297
List of British Diptera, 74
List of butterflies fronrthe Rhone Valley,
An additional, 93
List of the Lepidoptera of County (Jork,
A, 10
Luperina dumerili at Dover, 25
Lycfena argiolus at Kotherhithe, 286
Lycaena corydon ab., 284, 321
Lycaana minima var. alsoides in Hamp-
shire, 243
Macro-lepidoptera in North Stafford-
shire in 1901, 26
March Notes from Kent, 1902, 144
Meriania argentifera, Meig., a Tachinid
new to Britain, 249
Mesotype virgata (lineolata) in Berk-
shire, 288
Methods used to preserve colour in relax-
ing entomological specimens. On, 39
Miscellanea Rhynchotalia. No. 3, 136 ;
No. 4, 164; No. 5, 280
INDEX.
Vll
Morphology and Classification of the
Auchenonhynchous Homoptera, On
the, 214, 234, 260
National Collection of British Lepido-
ptera, The, 170
Neuroptera, 32, 248
Neuroptera of Oxon and Berks, Notes
on, 183
New butterflies from East Africa, De-
scriptions of, 40
New I orest Notes, 170
New species of Heterocera from the
Transvaal, Descriptions of, 216
New species of Indian ChrysididiP, 304
New species of Phytophagous Coleoptera
from the Island of Mauritius, Descrip-
tions of some, 203
Nola albulalis and Nonagria sparganii
in South Devon, 27
Nomenclature of the Coccidse, 114
North Staffordshire form of Zonosoma
(Ephyra) pendularia, The, 275
Note on Euzophera pinguis, 265
Notes from Dorking for the season of
1901, 118 ; from East Suffolk, 1901,
45 ; from Shropshire, 326 ; on Lepi-
doptera in August, 268 ; on the season
1901, 75
Notodonta carmelita in South Scotland,
172 ; dryinopa, 42, 1!)3
Obituary : —
Charles Lionel de Niceville, 79
Major Alfred Ficklin, 80
J. B. Williamson, 248
Odonata, &c., at Camberley, Surrey,
74
Odonata bred in 1902, 267
Odonata in Paris, 147
Ophiodes lunaris in Cheshire, 25, 74
Ornithoptera carsandra and 0. richmon-
dia, 17
Orrhodia rubiginea, 322
Orthoptera, 151
Papilio machaon in Berks, 286
Parental care of the Cimicidse (Rhyn-
chota), 319
Pieridfe at Winchmore Hill, 244; in
London, 243
Pieris daplidice in Sussex, 286; napi
twelvemonths in pupa, 242
Pionea (Ebulea), stachydalis in Surrey,
244
Plusia moneta, a few notes and queries,
242; in England, 320; at Finchley,
196 ; in London, 243 ; in Surrey, 244 ;
in Wilts, 244 ; larvas at Earnborough,
172 ; near Tunbridge Wells, 323
Polyommatus (Lyca;na) artaxerxes,
Fahr. in Banffshire, 266
Prionuscoriarius in Berkshire and Hert-
fordshire, 267
Proposed Entomological Society in Man-
chester, 266
Protracted emergence of Tephrosia bi-
undularia, 195
Psamotis pulveralis in Surrey, 268
Publication date of the Ehynchotal
Part of the Voyage of the ' Coquille,'
316
Pyrameis (Vanessa) cardui in Fifeshire,
219 ; at 1050 ft. in Banffshire, 267
EajDhidia larva attacked by a Fungus,
266
Rare Trichoptera at Glanvilles Wootton,
Captures of, 323
Rearing Agrotis ashworthii and Acidalia
contiguaria. 14
Recent Literature : —
A List of the Beetles of Ireland (W.
F. Johnson & J. H. Halbert), 272
A Revision of the North American
Species of Athysanus (H. Osborn
& E. D. Ball, 199
A Systematic Arrangement of tlie Di-
ptera (D. W. Coquillet), 31
Aquatic Insects in the Adirondacks
(J. G. Needham), 295
British Lepidoptera (J.W.Tutt), 332
British Tyroglyphid* (A. D. Michael),
176
Butterflies and Moths of Europe (W.
F. Kirby), 200
Catalogue of the Described Ortho-
ptera of the United States and
Canada (S. H. Scudder), 294
Catalogue of the Lepidoptera of Ire-
land (W. F. de V. Kane), 54
Descent of Man and Origin of Species
(C. Darwin), 128
Die Hemipteren von Celebes (G. Bred-
din), 224
Economic, 331
Elm-leaf Beetle in New York State
(E. P. Fell), 296
Fauna Analytique illustree des Ortho-
pteres de France (C. Houlbert), 295
Fauna Hawaiiensis (W.H. Ashmead),
127
First Report of the Natal Govern-
ment Entomologist (Claude Fuller),
199
Gartenfeinde und Gartenfreund (H.
Kolbe), 176
Genera Insectorum (Wytsman), 295
Handbook of the Natural History of
Glasgow, 126
Insect Enemies of the Spruce in the
North-east (A. D. Hopkins), 128
Insects injurious to the Elm-trees (E.
P. Fell), 151
Insect Life : Souvenirs of a Natura-
Hst (J. H. Fabre), 79
Les Odonates du Continent Austra-
lien (M. Rene Martin), 151
Vlll
INDEX.
Photography for Naturalists (Douglas
English), ;j2
Pink Grasshoppers (S. H. Scudder), 32
Proceedings of the South London En-
tomological and Natural History
Society (1901), 200
Scale Insects of Importance and a
list of the Species in New York State
(E. P. Fell), 128
The Hessian Fly (E. P. Fell), 296
The Skeleton of the head of Insects
(J. H. Comstock & Chujiro Kochi),
152
The Stridulatory Organs of Water-
bugs (G. W. Kirkaldy), 127
The Tettigidffi of North America, 294
Transactions of the City of London
Entomological and Natural History
Society (1901), 200 [322
Ileminiscences of the late Miss Ormerod,
liEPORTS OF Societies:,—
Birmingham Entomological, 52, 78,
124, 150, 175, 223, 329
London Entomological, 28, 47, 76, 121,
148, 173, 197, 221, 291, 326
Lancashire and Cheshire Entomolo-
gical, 51, 125, 149, 175, 330
South London Entomological and Na-
tural History, 30, 49, 78, 123, 149,
174, 198, 223, 271, 293, 327
Ilhodopha?a formosa and Oncocera ahe-
nella in Herts, 244
Rhynchota, 32, 151, 152, 248, 336
Ehynchota, Notes on the division Veli-
iaria, 63
Sesia allantiformis, Newm. ( = andreni-
formis, Lasp.) in Dorsetshire, Capture
of, 286
Sesia myopiformis in London, 286
Scent organs of Hepialidje, 73
Season 1901, The past, 75
Season of 1902, The 323
South African Coccidse, 111
South Devon Micro-lepidoptera, 145
Sphinx convolvuli and Acherontia atro-
pos in London and Somersetshire, 25
Sphinx convolvuli in Dorsetshire, 24 ;
in 1901, 172 ; on Dartmoor, 172
Sphinx pinastri at Winchester, 219
Stauropus fagi at Mickleham, 267
Thecla w-album and Colias edusa in
Bristol district, 115 [23
Third brood of Phragmatobia fuliginosa.
Three weeks in South Dorset, 288
Tortrices in South Essex, 194 ; taken
in South Essex between 1885 and
1901, A Hst of, 129, 166, 188, 208
Tortrix piceana and Sericoris bifasciana
in the Esher district, 220
Treatment of pupas during the winter, 26
Two varieties of Lycsena icarus, 218
Typhlocyba coloradensis in Mexico, 285
Unusual pairing of Butterflies, 242
Vanessa antiopa. Life-history of, 297 ;
urtica? ab., 321
Vanessidaj in 1901, 27 ; in 1902, 322
Variation in the genus Erebia, 7, 69, 89 ;
of Lycaena corydon in North Wilts, 273
Vakieties : —
Abraxas grossulariata, 199 [219
Acidalia marginepunctata, 156, 175,
Acronycta menyanthidis, 50
Agrotis puta, 121 ; ripffi, 271 ; sege-
tum, 124
Amphidasys betularia, 218
Arctia plantaginis, 150 [50
Argynnis adippe, 50 ; aglaia, 1 ; selene,
Asphalia ridens, 293
Anchocelis rufina, 50
Callimorjjha dominula, 291
Chrysophanus phlceas, 2, 121
Cosmia trapezina, 50
Dilina tiliffi, 221
Ematurga atomaria, 294
Epinephele ianira, 2
Euchloe cardamines, 2
Gonepteryx rhamni, 284
Hybernia leucophpearia, 174
Larentia multistrigaria, 148
Lycaena arion, 292 ; corydon, 2, 273,
274, 284, 292, 294, 321 ; icarus, 218 ;
minima, 294
Macaria liturata, 124
Mania typica, 50
Melitaea cinxia, 50
Metoecus paradoxus, 292
Noctua sobrina, 121
Odontoisera bidentata, 50
Papilio demoleus, 291
Pieris brassicas, 50
Plusia gamma, 51
Prionus californicus, 150
Psilura monacha, 198
Pygsera curtula, 293
Ehodophffia consociella, 4
Satyrus semele, 124
Tceniocampa opima, 198
Vanessa antiopa, 285 ; polychloros,
121 ; urticffi 322
Xylophasia polyodon, 50
Zonosoma pendularia, 50, 275
Variety of the moth Hypsa substracta
(Walk.), 73
Visit of the Entomological Society of
London to Oxford, 201
What is Monophlebus, Leach ? 317
White Ant or Termites, 218
Xanthia (MeUinia) ocellaris in North
Kent, 25
Xylina furcifera (conformis) in Lanca-
shire, 25
Yorkshire Dragonflies, 115
THE ENTOMOLOGIST
Vol. XXXV.]
JANUARY, 1902.
TNo. 464.
SOME ABERRATIONS OF BRITISH BUTTERFLIES
CAPTURED IN 1901.
I AM indebted to Mr. E. Sabine, of Erith, for a loan of the
interesting specimens figured above.
Fig. 1. — Arciynnis aglaia <? • Taken by Mr. L. W. Newman,
at Eynsford, last year. This example is somewhat similar to
an aberration of the female of A. adippe {A. aglaia in error)
figured Entom. xv. pi. i. figs. 2, 2a. On the upper surface the
marginal and antemavginal spots are more elongated : on the
under surface the confluent, silvery, basal spots of hind wings
form distinct patches, and there are some silvery oblong spots
on outer marginal area.
ENTOM. — JANUARY, 1902. B
THE ENTOMOLOGIST.
Fig. 2. — Epinephele ianira, <? . Also captured at Eynsford,
last year, by Mr. Newman. The upper surface is of the usual
colour and otherwise normal, but on the under surface the discal
area of the fore wings is whitish grey, inclining to buff towards
base and inner margin ; the margins and outer border of these
wings are greyer than usual. The hind wings are also greyer
than in typical specimens.
Fig. 3. — Lyccena corydon. So far as regards the body and
three of the wings this appears to be a male specimen, the left
fore wing and half of the thorax, however, are of the female
colour, with some patches of blue scales on the wing. On the
under surface the specimen seems to be normal, except that
there is a broad dark-grey dash along the costal area of the left
fore wing. This specimen was taken at Purley, by Mr. Kirk-
man, of Plumstead.
When sending the specimens just referred to, Mr. Sabine also
included some other varieties that he had obtained during last
season. Among these were the following : — A fine example of
syngrapha, the blue female form of L. corydon, taken by Mr.
Stockwell, at Dover. An example of Euchloe cardamines with
curious pale orange tips (Plumstead). Two specimens of Cliry-
sophanus jMoeas, taken by his son, at Dartford, in October ; one
of these had unusually large blue spots on the hind wings, and
the other had the black before the band on the hind wing
delicately streaked with the coppery colour.
EicHARD South.
NOTES ON LEPIDOPTERA IN SUFFOLK IN 1901.
By Claude A. Pyett, M.I.J.
It was with pleasure that I was able this year to renew
acquaintance with my favourite branch of entomology after two
years' comparative inactivity, owing to pressure of professional
engagements, and this resume of my more notable captures in
Suffolk will, I think, show that the season has been exceptionally
productive from the lepidopterist's point of view.
Briefly summarised, the year has been remarkable in one
curious respect, that many of the usually common species have
been conspicuous by their infrequent occurrence, whilst rarities
have turned up in unexpected places. In speaking of the pro-
ductiveness of the season, however, I should exclude the first
five months of the year, during which moths were decidedly
scarce, collecting at light, with which I am principally familiar,
being an absolute failure. This circumstance I attribute to
climatic influences, the weather being " magnificently feminine,"
as a London editor facetiously described it. A few warm sunny
days were sandwiched in a long period of wet, wintry, and windy
weatherj and I witnessed the unusual spectacle of four species of
NOTES ON LEPIDOPTERA IN SUFFOLK IX 1901. 3
hybernated butterflies disporting themselves in the centre of
Ipswich one spring-hke morning in April. These included two
Gonepteryx rhamni and Vanessa io (which seems to be getting
scarcer year by year), whilst I also saw one Colias edusa at Bar-
ham later on — the only specimen of this irregular visitor which
I encountered this year.
Looking at my diary I find the first noteworthy capture
was Teplirosia piuictidata, several of which were boxed on tree-
trunks in Woolpit Wood on June 8th, together with one T.
extersaria. The last-named was also netted at Bentley Wood on
the 29th, when several other local Geometrte were beaten, viz.
Macaria notata (a long series), Bapta temerata, Ephyra punctaria,
Acidalia trigcminata (a rubbed specimen), A. candidata and A.
luteata. Plenty of Micros were disturbed, including two which
had not previously been recorded in the county, viz. Stigmonota
7'edimitana --^ nitidana and Penthina picana --= corticana. A num-
ber of Crambus iiiquinatelliis were taken, also Halias prasinana
(female), Harpella geojfrella, Halonota cirsiana, Dicrorampha poli-
tana, Phoxopteryx lactana, ColeopJiora limosipennella (two), and
C. anatipennella. 1 was also rather surprised to take Homoeosoma
simieUa so far inland.
Anent my capture of Acidalia trigeminata, I gather from
correspondence with Mr. C. G. Barrett, that this pretty
species (which beginners using " Newman's " are apt to confuse
with A. hisetata, owing to the transposition of the figures) is
becoming very scarce in this country. It may therefore be in-
teresting to record the wide distribution of the moth in the
Ipswich district. I have met with it several times during an
experience of eight years, in fact I have not set all I have taken.
It has more than once come to light, but usually I have found it
on palings, and in this situation I secured it this summer — three
in the borough, one at Westerfield, and another at Barham, in
addition to the Bentley specimen. I find on looking back through
my diary that my first record for the species was in the summer
of 1895.
Keverting to my captures for June, the finding of Cossus
Ugniperda and Orgyia pudihmida on palings in the town may be
mentioned. I also saw lying in the road whilst cycling through
Little Glemham a damaged specimen of Arctia villica, a moth
which is by no means so common hereabouts as one might
expect, July was ushered in with Dipterygia pinastri {scabj-i-
uscida), two of which were detected under a wall ledge ; whilst
on the 2nd an interesting addition was made to the Suffolk list
of Micros in the shape of Tinea merdella, which was flying in
numbers in the Lecture Hall, Ipswich, their presence being pre-
sumably accounted for by the baize covering of the platform. I
could have secured some fifty specimens, but being engaged
reporting a meeting, I only managed to box two which alighted
B 2
THK ENTOMOLOGIST.
close by. A day or two later I boxed Tinea nigrijnmctella on
the entrance door of the hospital. This species was also
new to the county. Light yielded some notable captures, in-
cluding the rare Apamea ophiogramma. I may mention that
Mr. Hy. Miller, of Ipswich, tells me that he and Mr. Hy. Ling-
wood, of Needham Market, have also taken this species this
year. It should be explained that all my collecting at light
has been at suburban street lamps fitted with incandescent
mantles, and a nocturnal excursion has never failed to result
in a good capture. The best records for the month included
Smerinthns ocellatus, S. populi, pale forms of Bomhyx neustria,
Nudaria senex, Liparis salicis, Amphidasus hetularia var. double-
day aria (which is not infrequently met within Ipswich), Leucania
conigera, L. Uthargyria, Hecatera serena (several), Aplecta advena,
Thyatira derasa, Tethea suhtusa, Acidalia ruhricata, lodis vernaria,
Phihalapteryx vitalhata, Cidaria fulvata, EupitJiecia fraxinata,
E. suhnotata, E. oblongata, E. succentnriata, E. sobrinata, E.
pumilata, Strenia clathrata, Enimelesia alchemillata, E. decolorata,
Tiniandra imitaria, &c.
The Micros were also well represented, the commonest being
the pretty Pyralis costaUs. This was constantly met with from
the beginning of July right up to October, and it was nothing
unusual to see three or four on a lamp. It would have been a
perfect jjest but for the peculiar habit it has of resting with its
wings pressed flat on the glass, by which, viewed from below,
it is readily distinguished. Endotricha fiammealis was also a
frequent visitor to light in the town, and single specimens were
also taken of Eazojjhora pinguis, Halonota foenella, Ephestia
elutella, Myelois cribram, Carpocapsa ^wmonella, llomocosoma
nebidella, Rhodophcea formosa, li. eo/isociclla, Sphaleroptera icteri-
cana (female), and Jlydrocampa stagnalis.
The specimen of B. consociella requires more than passing
notice, it being a very fine variety — dark purple instead of bright
purplish red. Mr. C. G. Barrett thinks it may be a local form,
as it quite differs in colour from any that he has hitherto seen ;
but I cannot settle the point, as I have never met with the
species before. I searched the few oaks in the neighbourhood in
hopes of finding some of the larva, but was not successful.
Another interesting and unique capture was an exceptionally
fine and large pale variety of Acidalia incajiaria {virgalaria),
which I took near Bentley. This has also been examined by
Mr. Barrett, who considers it the most beautiful and by far the
most distinctly marked specimen of this rather obscure species
which he has ever seen. He informs me that this pale form is
known abroad, but he does not recollect it occurring elsewhere in
this country. I think it must be a local form, as I have another
older specimen, quite as large, and taken several years ago in
Ipswich, whilst two or three others were met with i the same
NOTES ON LEPIDOPTRRA IN SUFFOLK IN 1901, 5
spot at Bentley ; but as I was not at the time aware that they
differed from the type, I unfortunately did not trouble to set
them out. I intend, however, to try and get other similar ex-
amj)les next year.
Bentley Wood was a veritable happy hunting-ground during
July. I made two or three visits there with Mr. A. E. Gibbs,
of St. Albans, and we tried sugar with good results, the
best Nocture being Orthosia suspecta, Thyatira hatis, T. derasa,
Noctua baia (in profusion), Cerigo cytlierea, Amphipyra pyramidea,
Dipterygia pinastri, Xylophasia scolopacina, &c. Numerous speci-
mens of Herminia tarsipennalis and Endotriclia jiammealis were
also boxed, whilst Triphcena promiha was present in abundance.
A day with the beating-stick on the 23rd was productive of fairly
good results. Being dull, butterflies were only occasionally seen,
and the only noteworthy captures were Limcnitis sibylla and
Thecla quercus. The former were getting over, and I congratu-
lated myself on having made a special visit a fortnight earlier,
when I netted eight grand specimens. Scores could have been
easily taken, I am glad to say, notwithstanding the regrettable
fact that something like a thousand specimens were caught last
year by two or three unprincipled collectors. Calligenia miniata
was taken at dusk with Crambus pinetellus ; Coremia quadrifasci-
aria was found on palings, and Mr. Gibbs also espied Geometra
papilionaria on a leaf. Xylophasia lithoxylea was detected on a
fir-trunk, resting with head downwards, a peculiarity which I
have more than once noticed in regard to this species. The Micros
encountered included Harpipteryx xylostella, several Rhodophcea
tiimidella in fiile condition, Pcedisca solandriana (rather worn),
Ebidea rerbascalis, &c. We stayed the night in the wood, putting
up at a cottage. Next morning we resumed operations, but
beyond Lyccpjia argiolus, Argynnis adippe, and Epione apiciaria,
nothing worth recording was met with. Several eggs of Cerura
vinula were seen on the upper surface of leaves of aspen bushes,
looking to all appearances like galls. On the way home to
Ipswich I boxed another C. innetellus.
The latter end of August I spent at Felixstowe with Mr.
Gibbs, and some scarce coast things came to sugar, including
long series of Agrotis ripce and A. vestigialis ; also innumerable
specimens of A. tritici and A. nigricans, many of which were very
interesting varieties. On Landguard Common Crambus contami-
nelliis and Cledeobia angustaUs were found in considerable numbers
in the daytime, whilst Gelechia desertella was swarming in the
grass-tufts. Several Homoeosoma sinuella were also netted, and
two Herbida cespitalis. A morning with the beating-sticks on
the cliffs towards Bawdsey was not very profitable, but what few
things we met were good. I took a fine specimen of Platyptilia
gonodactyla and two Conchylis dilucidana, the latter being a new
record for the county ; whilst Mr. Gibbs was fortunate in cap-
b THE ENTOMOLOGIST.
turing Spilodes ^mlealis. Inspection of palings resulted in the
addition of Eupithecia coronata, C. innetellus, Antithesia salicella,
Spilonota ocellana, Sciaj)liila alternella {chrysantheana) , Depressaria
costosa, D. Uturella, (Ecogenia qiiadripuncta = kindermanniella,
and Xanthosetia hamana ; whilst Tinea tapetzella and T. hiselli-
ella were noticed at my lodgings. I had previously never met
with hiselliclla outside Ipswich. It was imported into my house
in a mattress in 1895, and caused havoc amongst the upholstered
furniture. In the summer of 1896 I practically exterminated the
pest by searching for the imagines at night, killing some two
hundred altogether early in June before they had time to breed
again. The gaudy Zygcena filipendnlcB were swarming on the
downs in the Landguard Fort enclosure, but I had never met
with the species previously in Suffolk. Like Euchelia jacohcece,
it seems to be very local.
Returning to Ipswich on August 2nd, I was fortunate in
getting Epunda viminalis in good condition at light, which also
yielded Notodonta dictcea, Ptilodontis pcdpina, Ephyra omicronaria,
Peliirga comitata, Thera firmata, T. variata, Eupithecia centaure-
ata, Crocallis elinguaria, Hyponomeuta padellus, Cramhus tristelliis
and C. geniculeus (both perfect pests), Parapoiiyx stratiotalis,
Ebidea verbascalis, Eudorea cembrce, Pionea forficalis (abundant),
Cataclysta lemnata (female), Eupcccilia atricapitana, Phycis rohor-
ella (rubbed), Plutella cruciferarum, Depressaria sid)propinquella,
Gelechia imdinella, G. senectella (?), and last but not least Leio-
ptilis osteodactylus, an unexpected visitant at a street lamp, and
a notable addition to the county list. Search of walls produced
a nice brown female form of Hepialus sylvinus, whilst Catocala
nupta was frequently met with ; Phyllocnistis sujfnsella was found
swarming on palings near poplars l3efore dusk ; and varieties of
Plutella cruciferarum were beaten on Rushmere Heath. Dusking
at Yoxford, the garden of Suffolk, in the beginning of the month
resulted in Ephyra punctaria, Platyptilia ochrodactylus --=- her-
trami (which also came to an Ipswich street-lamp), Pterophoriis
monodactylus ^= pterodactylus, MivKEseoptilus fuscus, C. pinetellus,
Spilodes cinctalis, &c. I also secured several full-fed larvae of
Sphinx ligustri, which were found on an ash tree under curious
circumstances, my attention being called to the frass by a lady
who imagined they were smuts or gunpowder pellets from some
mischievous boys in an adjoining garden ! I mention this as a
striking instance of rural ignorance.
September was principally noted for the occurrence of Sphinx
convolvuU, which came regularly to the flowers of Nicotiana affinis
in my garden just before dusk. This fine moth seems to have
been abundant this year, dozens of specimens having been re-
ported from Belstead, Stutton, and several parts of Ipswich.
Light was not quite so productive, but I took a nice Luperina
cespitis, four Heliophohus popidaris, Eugonia tiliaria = alniaria,
VARIATION IN THE GENUS EREBIA. 7
Aciclalia x>yomutata, Tliera variata (var.), and a diminutive Aci-
dalia aversata.
I spent the afternoon of Sept. 7th at Bentley Wood, and
curious to say, the only Macro I took was Macaria notata,
evidently a second brood. Micros, however, were beaten in
numbers. I boxed about fifty altogether, including Cerostoma
radiatella (a variable series), C. costella, C.sylvella, C. vittella {?),
Chelaria hiibnerella, Penthina hetulcstana, Dictyopteryx contamin-
ana, and Ephippiphora himaculana {Halonota similana) ; Grapho-
litlia penkleriana was also found in great numbers; also several
Peronea ferrugana and Poedisca solandriana, one or two of the
latter being variable forms.
Up to the time of writing, October has yielded Diloha ccendeo-
cephala, Polia flavicincta (several), Eubolia cervinaria (four),
Cidaria miata, and Orthosia macilenta.
I must not close this review of the season without expressing
my indebtedness to Mr. Barrett and the Eev. E. N. Bloomfield
for kind assistance in determining my Micros.
Thornley Place, Waterloo Eoad, Ipswich.
VARIATION IN THE GENUS EREBIA.
By Geoffrey SanTH.
Part I.
(Continued from Entom. xxxiv. p. 308.)
It is now time to look back at Table II. in the light of the
foregoing remarks. This table, which actually represents case
(1) is typical also of case (4). In both these cases the sex that
is in the minority is also constant. A discussion of this constant
factor is necessary. In Table II. the constant female heritage
of 4g- was added to the variable male heritages, and in this way
the powers for the next generation were raised, with a corre-
sponding rise in the mean power. But if males and females are
in equal numbers in the next generation, then the powers in
column 6, Table II., must be equally distributed between males
and females. But the females have a constant power, viz. 9,
hence the calculated mean power for the males will be 4|^, which
is the same as in the preceding generation ; hence no rise of
power has taken place. In other words, the deductions that
were made from this table can only hold good if the females of
the next generation are ignored. I believe that there is good
reason for ignoring them. For what is the meaning of this
constant state of the females and variable state of the males ?
It means, firstly, that the variable state of the males has no
8 THE ENTOMOLOGIST.
effect on the constitution of their female offspring, for if so, a
mean would be established for the females intermediate between
9 and the various powers of the males. But this does not occur.
Hence we must suppose that the constant power of the females
is handed down independently of the males. But if this is so,
what reason is there for supposing that the constant power of
the females has any effect on the variable powers of the male
offspring ? The reason, I think, is given in the two terms con-
stant and variable. The constant power represents the power
that is typical of the species ; all reversionary processes tend
towards its re-establishment. It is consequently prepotent over
the variable powers, and in the females asserts itself entirely,
although the tendency of each female, being partly the product
of a variable male, should be to vary partly in accordance with
its male parent. In the males this variability is not entirely
effaced by the constant heritage from the female parent, but it
is largely affected by it, owing to the strength that naturally
belongs to a constant and typical factor. In other words, the
variable male heritage is not strong enough to influence the
female offspring, but the constant female heritage is strong
enougli to influence the males.
In cases (5) and (6) there is supposed to be no constant or
prepotent factor, so the mean (M) between the two sexes would
tend to establish itself if the numbers of the sexes were equal ; if
one sex or the other preponderates, a state of fluctuation would be
maintained. It will be well to follow this out a little more closely.
In cases (1) and (4) one of the sexes was supposed to be con-
stant with regard to the character under consideration : it was
shown for case (1), and so incidentally for case (4), that a state
of equilibrium or comparative constancy would be attained for
the variable sex if every individual paired, by means of a steady
march in the direction of the constant sex. It has also been
shown that if the sexes are quite unequal in number, this steady
march is very unlikely to occur.
Now, in cases (5) and (6) there is no constant sex, ex hypo-
thesi, to which the other is to conform. How then would a state
of equilibrium be attained, supposing the sexes were equal in
numbers. Let us take an instance.
The M of certain males of E. cassiope inhabiting a given area
is 4 ; that of the females inhabiting the same area is 5. If all
breed we may be certain, ignoring of course other factors and
exigencies, that the M of the next generation will be 4^.
Supposing that the range of variation is between 1 and 9, we
know that with the M at 4|- any of the values between 1 and 9
may occur. But if the M keeps at 4|, as it will do if proportional
numbers of each variety breed every generation, the number 4^,
being the most probable value of any unknown measure in the
group — i.e. re^jresenting the mediocre condition — will tend to
VARIATION IN THE GENUS EREBIA. 9
establish itself as the typical number. (A further discussion of
this -^vill be given.)
It is plain also that if the M of -ij is not preserved from
generation to generation owing to the inequality of the sexes,
then that M has no very much better chance of establishing
itself than any other. Hence a state of fluctuation.
The cases typified by (5) and (6) are, I believe, of more
general application than (1) and (4) ; and also they demand less
theoretical hypothesis for their explanation. But I found the
latter more convenient to deal with at first owing to the simplicity
of the figures when given in full.
I think it will be found, w^ien dealing with actual data in
reference to some particular character or characters, that the
species under consideration cannot be very definitely referred to
any of the six categories given above, but possesses some of the
qualities of several in a not very marked degree. Also many
instances will occur to the reader's mind of animals with sexes
disproportionate in numbers, and yet with no marked degree of
variability, &c. ; but it must be remembered that onlj^ one factor
in a very complex mechanism, that of heredity, is l3eing taken
into account. When the rule is stated — that equality in the
number of the sexes tends towards equilibrium, i.e. fixation of
one character or degree of a character, and that inequality wdien
coupled with variability in the preponderating sex tends tow'ards
continued fluctuation — it must be borne in mind that this rule
would be strictly true, only on the condition of all other factors
being equal ; but in nature, where interaction is universal, its
particular effect may be entirely obliterated or at least modified.
Nevertheless, if it is shown to hold good in theory, its possible
effect must not be ignored in practice.
In the foregoing Part, a factor has, as it were, been isolated
from all the other factors with which it is naturally compounded,
and has, so to speak, been examined iti vacuo. We will, in the
next Part, turn to actual data, and consider them in the light of
the theoretical considerations already discussed.
To recapitulate so far : equality in the numerical proportions
of the sexes tends towards constancy of characters. If one sex
is already constant, the variability of the other will tend to con-
form to the constancy of the one, owing to the prepotency of
reversion. If both sexes are variable and there are no marked
reversionary tendencies, then a mean will be struck between the
two variabilities, which will become constant, according to the
laws of chance. If, however, the sexes are very unequal in
numerical proportions, and the preponderating sex is variable,
whether one sex is constant or not, the variability of one or both
sexes is preserved, owing to the impossibility of the laws of
chance working regularly.
(To be continued.)
10 THE ENTOMOLOGIST.
A LIST OF THE LEPIDOPTERA OF COUNTY CORK.
By C. Donovan, M.D., F.E.S., Capt. I.M.S., and R. J. F. Donovan.
(Concluded from Entom. xxxiv. p. 336.)
A. corticea, scarce, T. ; three specimens, C. A. nigricans, one,
the YM'-famosa, C. A. tritici, common, G. and C. A. obelisca,
about six specimens picked out by Mr. Barrett in a long series of
A. tritici procured at C. A, strigula, not very common, T. ;
fairly common, G. A. lucernea, two near C. ; a few, G. Noctua
glareosa, scarce, T. [N. augur: although Mr. Kane says this
moth is to be met with throughout Ireland, we have never met
with it.] N. plecta, common. N. c-nigrtim, not scarce, T.; com-
mon at G., and especially so at C, in the autumn brood, about
September. N. triangulum, rather scarce, T. ; few, G. ; several,
C. N. hrunnea, fairly common. N. /estiva, one, T.; few, G., and
near Bandon ; several, C. N. dahlii, two specimens at G.
N. ruhi, fairly common. N. umhrosa, a few specimens. A'', haia,
one, T. ; few, C; common near Dunmanway and G. N. xantlio-
graplia, very common. TriphcEna ianthina, fairly common.
T. fimbria, scarce. T. interjecta, four specimens, T. ; common,
G. and C. T. comes, common. T. pronuha, very common.
Amphipyra pyramidea, a number of specimens in 1901, T. ;
common, C. ; as many as a dozen on a sugared tree. A. trago-
jjogonis, common. Mania typica, one, T. ; few, G. ; and near
Bandon. M. maura, one larva, T. ; few, G. Panolis j)iniperda,
three specimens, T. Pachnohia rubricosa, scarce, T. ; few, near
Bandon. Taniocampa gothica, common, T., and near Bandon.
T. incerta, rather scarce, T., and near Bandon. T. stabilis,
common, T., and near Bandon. T. gracilis, scarce, T., few near
Bandon. T. pulverulenta, common, T. Orthosia lota, not com-
mon, T. ; common at G., and near Bandon. 0. macilenta, not
so frequently met with as the preceding species, T.; common, G.
Anchocelis pistacina, fairly common, T. A. limosa, not common,
T. ; several, G. and C. Cerastis vacciiiii, common, T. and G.
Scopelosoma sateUitia, common, T., G., and near Bandon. Xan-
thia flavago, rather scarce, T. ; few near Bandon. X. circellaris,
common. Cirrhoedia xerampelina, two si^ecimens, G. Calymnia
trapezina, rather plentiful, T. ; several, C. Dianthoecia luteago
var. barrettii, two specimens near C. ; the first a couple of years
ago, identified by Mr. Kane ; the second procured this year, con-
cerning whose identity there was considerable doubt, has now
been definitely pronounced by Mr. Barrett to be this species.
I), casta, few, C. ; several, G. [D. nana. — Mr. Kane in his
Catalogue, has attributed to me (0. D.) the captures of this
species at G. I do not recollect the moth, nor does my register
contain any record of the occurrence.] D. capsincola and cucubali,
common. D. capsophila, common on the coast, as well as some
LEPIDOPTERA OF COUNTY CORK. 11
four miles inland. Hecatera serena, rather scarce, T. ; several,
G. ; common, C. [PoUa chi. — Although said to be widely dis-
tributed and frequently common, it has never been procured by
us.] Miselia oxijacanthce, fairly common. Agriopis aprilina,
one, T. ; several, G. ; and near Bandon. Euplexia lucipara,
common. Phlogophora meticidosa, very common ; we have
counted as many as thirty-four on one tree, and twenty-one on
another, at sugar at C, on a night in September of this year.
Aplecta prasina, scarce, T. ; several, G. and C. A. nchulosa,
common ; all of the pale whitish grey coloration. Hadena
dentina, common. H. dissimilis, scarce, T. H. oleracea, com-
mon. H. tJudassina, not common, T, ; common, G. ; several, C.
Xylocampa areola, common, T., and near Bandon. Calocampa
vetusta, common, T. and G. C. exoleta, scarce, T. ; several, G.
Xylina ornithopus, scarce, T. ; several, G. X. socia, common, T.
and G. ; one, C. Cucullia verhasci, three imagines captured and
the larvfe plentiful this year at T., on Scrophularia aquatica, and
some on Verhascum thapsus ; two larvae on Scroplmlaria nodosa,
at Castlefreke, near Kosscarberry. Prior to the present year the
conspicuous larvae were never noticed ; there must have been a
recent immigration of the moth. (Mr. Kane is doubtful whether
our moth is verhasci or scrophularioi) . C. ahsinthii, two imagines,
T. ; larvae very plentiful this year, both on Artemisia absinthiwn
and vulgaris, in about twenty localities within a six miles radius
of C. C. umbratica, common. Gonoptera libatrix, fairly common.
Hahrostola tripartita, scarce, T. ; several, C. and G. H. triplasia,
common. Plusia clirysitis, common. P. bractea, one, T.; several,
G. and two localities near Bandon. P.festucce, common, T. and
C. ; one near Bandon. P. pidchrina, scarce, T. and G. P.
gamma, very common. Anarta myrtilli, larvae not uncommon,
T. ; several imagines, G. HeliotJds peltigera, one, G. Charidea
umbra, not scarce, T. ; few, C. Erastria fasciana, two specimens
near G. Phytometra viridaria, common, T. and G. Euclidia mi,
not common, T. and G. Itividasericealis, common, T.; several, C.
Zanclognatha griseaUs, common. Z. tarsipennalis, scarce, T. ; one,
C. Bomolochafontis, scarce, T. : one, G. ; two, C. Hypena pro-
boscidalis, common.
Geometry. — Uropteryx sambucaria, common. Epiione apici-
aria, scarce, T. ; few, G. Piumia luteolata, very common.
Venilia macidaria, common, T. ; near Bandon. Metrocampa
margaritaria, common. Ellopia prosapiaria, rather scarce, T. ;
several, G. ; few, Dunmanway. Eurymene dolobraria, several,
T. ; three, C. ; few, Dunmanway. Selenia bilunaria, common,
in both broods. Odontopera bidentata, common. Eugonia alni-
aria, one, T. E. quercinaria, common, T. and G. ; one, C.
Himera pennaria, fairly numerous, T. ; several, near Bandon.
Phigalia pedaria, scarce, mostly met with in pupal state, T. ; one,
G. Amphidasys strataria, a few males at light, and a single
12 THK ENTOMOLOGIST.
female at rest, from whom ova were obtained, T. A. hetularia,
larvae and pupse, plentiful, T. ; few, G. Cleora Uchenaria,, fairly
common. Boarmla repandata, common. B. cinctaria, one
specimen, T. Tephrosia hiundalaria, common, G. and C. ; few,
near Dunmanway. Gnophos ohscuraria, not common. Pseudo-
terpna pruinata, common. Geometra papilionaria, two larvse
and one imago, T. ; several, G. ; common, near Dunmanway.
lodis lacteayia, very common. Hemithea strigata, one, T. ; single
specimens, near Bandon, Drimoleague, and G. ; several at C.
Zonosoma linearia, one, T. Acidalia dimidiata and hisetata,
common. .1. margine punctata, not common, T. ; common, G.
and C. A. subsericeata, not uncommon, T. ; several, G. ; com-
mon, C. A. remataria, few, G. A. imitaria, common. A. aver-
sata, common. Cahera pusaria and exantliemata, common.
Macaria Uturata, scarce, T. Panagra petraria, one, T. ; two, G.
[Scodiona helgiaria. — By mistake, Mr. Kane gives my name
(C D.) against this insect ; the entry should be transferred to
the next species.] Selidosema ericetaria, one, T. ; several, G.
Ematurga atomaria, common on heaths. Bupalus piniaria, one
specimen, dusking on May 27th, 1900, T. Sterrha sacraria, one
specimen at ragwort on Aug. 27th, 1898, T. ; seen by Mr. Kane.
Abraxas grossidariata, very common. Lomaspilis marginata, com-
mon. Hijbernia viarginaria, not uncommon at sallow blossom,
T. H. defoliaria, a few imagines and pupae, T. Anisopteryx
cescidaria, fairly common, T. Cheimatobia brumata, common, T.,
G., and near Bandon. Oporabia dilutata, common, T., G., and
near Bandon. Larentia didi/mata, scarce, T., C. ; common, G.
L. multhtrigaria, common, T. L. vlridaria, common, especially
inland. Emmelesia alcheniillata, three specimens, T. ; few, G.
F. albulata, locally abundant, T. E. iinifasciata, several, T. and
C. Enpithecia venosata, common, a melanic variety at G. E.
pulchellata, rather scarce, T. ; common, G. E. oblongata, com-
mon, T. and C. E. subftdvata, scarce, T. ; few, C. E. plnnibeo-
lata, scarce, T. ; fairly plentiful in a small wood near Dunman-
way. E. scabiosata, common, T. ; few, C. E. pygmcEata, one
specimen beaten out of oak on June 24th, 1900, T. E. satgrata,
a few specimens, T. and C. E. castigata, fairly common, T. and
C. E. jasioneata, common by the sea, C. E. virgaurcata, com-
mon, T. and C. E. ralerianata, common, T. and C. E. indigata,
one specimen. May 18th, 1900, T. E. constnctata, larvae locally
common, C. E. nanata, fairly common, T.; one, C. E. ridgata,
common. E. albipwnctata, larvae plentiful on Angelica sylvestris,
T. E. absinthiata, common, T. and C. E. assiimlata, few larvae
and imagines, T. E. tenuiata, two larvae in sallow catkins, T.
E. lariciata, rather scarce, T. E^ abbreviata, common, T. and C.
E. togata, larvae plentiful in spruce fir-cones, T., and near Dun-
manway. E. pumUata, common. E. coronata, scarce, T. and C.
E. rectangidata, fairly common. E. debiliata, larvae plentiful, T.
LEPIDOPTERA OF COUNTY CORK. 13
Lobojjhora viretata, very common, T. and C. Thera rariata,
common. Hypsijjetes trifasciata, pupty not scarce in rotten alder
wood, T. H. sordidata, rather scarce, T. ; common, G., Drimo-
leagiie and Dunmanway. Melantlda bicolorata, common, Drimo-
league and Dunmanway. M. ocellata, common. M. alhicillata,
scarce. Melanijrpe sociata and montanata, common. M. fjaliata,
fairly common, C. M. fiuctuata, very common. Anticleabadiata,
one specimen near Bandon. Coremia unidentaria, common; we
have made no attempt to discriminate between this species and
ferrugata. Camptogramma hilineata, very common. C. fluviata,
a few specimens, T. PliibalajHeryx vittata, not common. Eu-
cosmia undidata, scarce, larv£e more plentiful than imagines, T. ;
few, G.; fairly common, Drimoleague and Dunmanway. Cidaria
siderata, common. C. miata, scarce, T. and G. C. corijlata, one
specimen, T. C. truncata and C. immanata, common. C. suffu-
niata, fairly common, T. and C. C. priinata, scarce, T. and G.
C. testata, not common, T. and G. C. populata, fairly common,
T. and G. Pelarga comitata, not common, T. and C. Eubolia
limitata, very common. E. plumbaria, common. Anaitis plagi-
ata, common.
Pyralides. — Pyralis farimdis, common, T. ; few, C. Sco-
paria ambigualis, S. basistrigalis, S. cembrce, S. diibitalis, S. mer-
curella, S. cratcegella, S. resinea, S. angustea. Novwphila noctuella.
Pyrausta ostrincdis. Herbida cespitalis. Eiinychia octomaculata.
Kurrhypara iirticata, very common. Scopida lutealis, S. pru-
nalis, S.ferrugalis. Botys ruralls, B.fuscaiis, common. Ebidea
crocealis. Piouea forjicalis, common. Orobeiia straminalis.
Pterophori. — Platyptilia ochrodactyla, P. bertrami, P. gono-
dactyla (?). AmbUiptilia aainthodactyla. MimcBseoptilus bipuncti-
dactyla, M. pterodactylus. (Ede)iuitopJiorus IWiodactglus. Ptero-
phorus monodactyUiH. Leioptilns tephradactylas. Aciptilia pcnta-
dactyla, very common. Alucita hexadactyla, common.
Crambi — Sch(/'iwbiusforJicelli(s. Crambuspratellus, C.perlellus,
C. tristelliis, C. inquinatellus, C.geniculeus. Hovioeosor.ui binmvella.
Ephestia kuJiniella. Pliycis fitsca, P. adornatella. Nephopteryx
splendidella , scarce in spruce fir-cones, T., and near Dunmanway.
Rhodophcea consociella. Ajihomia sociella , common. Achraagrisella.
ToRTRiCES. — Dichelia grotiana. Tortrix podana, T. xylo-
steana, T. heparana, T. unifaseiana , T. costana, T. viridana,
common. T.forsterana. Leptogrammaliterana. Peronea spon-
sana, P. comparana, P. perplexana, P. variegana, P. Jiastiana,
P. ferrugana, P. aspersana. Rhacodia caudana. Teras con-
taminana. Dictyopteryx loiflingiana. Argyrotoxa conivayana,
common. Ptycholoma lecheana. Penthina variegana, P. mar-
ginana. Pledya dealbana. Spilonota incarnata. Pardia tri-
punctana. Aspis udmanniana. Sericoris littoralis, S. lacunana.
Orthotcenia ericetana. Cnephasia muscidana. Sciaphila consper-
sana, S. subjecta)ui, S. virgaureana, S colquhounana, common on
14 THE ENTOMOLOGIST.
rocks by the sea, C. ; the larvae feed on Armeria vulgaris, in long
silken tubes, entwined among the leaves and stems of the plant.
There is marked variation, ranging from nearly white to a
dark stone-grey. C apua favillaceana. Bactra lanceolaiia. Phoxo-
pteryx lundana. Grapholitha nisella, G. nigromaculana, G. tri-
maculana, G. ijcnkleriana, G. ncevana. Phloeodes immundana.
Pcedisca corticana, P. profandana, P. seviifuscana. Ephippiphora
pfliigiatia, E. hrnnnicliiana, E. trigeminana. Coccyx argyrana,
C. tcedella. Stigmonota regiana. Dicrorampha alpinana, D.
herhosana. Catoptria idicetana, C. hypcricana, C. cana, C. citrana.
Symcethis oxyacanthella. Eupoecilia pallidana, E. angustana, E.
ciliella. Xanthosetia zoegana, X. hamana. Argyrolepia hart-
manniana. Conchylis straminea.
ON REARING AGROTIS ASHWORTHII AND AGIDAUA
CONTIGUARIA.
By R. Tait.
My annual visit to North Wales was made rather later than
usual this year, and I did not reach Penmaenmawr until July
17th, by winch time imagines of A. ashworthii were practically
over. I did not find one, although a careful search was made ;
but Mr. W. G. Sheldon (who was staying at Penmaenmawr) was
more fortunate, and captured two or three specimens at rest.
However, ova were fairly plentiful, and I decided to try and
force them again. The results were fairly satisfactory, as I
managed to get some sixty odd perfect insects, and should have
had more, but for an illness which stopped the feeding of the
larvpe just when many of them were almost full-grown. Two
batches of ova failed to hatch at the same time as the others,
although they changed colour ; but eventually they produced a
fine brood of minute ichneumons.
.4. contiguaria was taken sparingly by both Mr. Sheldon and
myself, and I succeeded in obtaining a few ova. About sixty
hatched, and by keeping them in the same temperature as the A.
ashivortliii I got about forty odd into pupie by the end of August.
They began to emerge on Sept. 8th, and between that date and
the 23rd forty-four specimens came out, and were duly killed and
set. Fully half of these were of the dark form, probably the
progeny of a dark female ; but as the ova were all put together, I
cannot speak definitely on this point.
The moths pair easily, and I have now a nice batch of larvffi
hybernating on heather.
I may add that I also forced a batch of Noctiia f estiva under
the same conditions as A. ashworthii ; these emerged during the
last fortnight in October.
15, Eectory Road, Crumpsall, Manchester : Nov. 25th, 1901.
15
A NEW GENUS OF SOUTH AFEIOAN COCCID^.
By T. D. a. Cockerell.
Halimococcus, n. gen.
A Dacfcylopiine Coccicl enclosed in a horny sac shaped like
that of Solenococcus, without legs or antennae in the adult.
Larva with no rows of dorsal spines, no hairs on anal ring, and
no caudal tubercles, but four long caudal bristles as in Phoenico-
cocciis. Closely related to Phoenicococciis (which lives in Algeria),
but distinguished by the form of the sac, which exactly imitates
that of Solenococcus.
Halimococcus lampas, n. sp.
? . Enclosed iu a dark browu horny sac (which is not dissolved by
liquor potasste), which is shaped like a TcrebraUda shell, i.e. oval, with
the end raised and terminating in au orifice. Length of sac 510 />i,
breadth 300, breadth of orifice about 66 /a. The orifice is closed by a
reticulated plate, except basally, where there is a semilunar opening.
In immature examples the sac is prominently segmented on the ven-
tral side.
^ . Scale small, cylindrical, horny, ferruginous, of the same
texture as that of the female, but usually somewhat paler. Length
350 /x, breadth 140. The end comes off, leaving a round opening, as
in Muscid pupte.
? . A mere bag, with well-developed mouth and spiracles.
Larva, — Rather narrow; legs and antenna present. No caudal
tubercles, but two pairs of long caudal bristles ; two small bristles
close to these. Antennte about 45 /x long, six-jointed, last joint much
the longest. No dorsal spines. Last antennal joint with two long
bristles. Femur remarkably stout, about 15 /x broad ; length of femur
+ trochanter about 30 /x.
Older specimens have actually shorter (36 /x) antenna?, with joint 6
longer than 4 + 5 ; 5 longer than 3, 3 longer than 4, 1 large.
A few white curled waxen threads protrude from beneath the sacs
of the females.
Hah. In great numbers on upper sides of leaves of palm on
the coast of Natal (Claude Fuller, No. 3). A remarkable insect,
essentially a modification of the Phosnicococcns type. With
H. lampas in Natal, and P. marlatti in Algeria, it is not difficult
to imagine the existence of a whole series of such forms in the
vast intermediate region, the coccids of which are almost wholly
unknown.
East Las Vegas, New Mexico, U.S.A.
Nov. 1st, 1901.
16
THE ENTOMOLOGIST.
INSTRUMENT WITH WHICH MOTHS OF THE GENUS
ANTHER.EA CUT OUT OF THEIR HARD COCOONS.
By F. p. Dodd.
I AM not aware that any Australian entomologist has yet dis-
covered how these silk-producing motlis contrive to work their
way out after bursting the pupa-shell. Many believed they
managed it with their woolly prolegs, aided by the liquid they
discharge to soften the material during the cutting process. A
more reasonable supposition would have been that the powerful
wing-veins near base performed the work, for a large percentage
of the moths have the scales of fore wing for one-fourth or three-
eighths of an inch from base completely rubbed off, giving the
insects quite a shabby appearance, though perfect in every other
way. Again, the insect whilst working seems to be employing the
fore wings, apparently striking with one for a time, then the other.
However, Dr. A. J. Turner informed me that he was one day
watching an AnthcrcBa sivqjlex cutting out, and observed that it
did so with a pointed instrument, like the end of a small brad-
awl ; but the insect having emerged, he did not see this again.
As he was aware that I was breeding out several species, he ex-
pressed a wish that I should keep a watch when an opportunity
arose. I was soon able to prove that there is a cutting "weapon,"
which our collectors appear to have failed to observe ; but that
is not strange, for, as the moth comes into view, his work is
nearly completed, and there is little necessity for him to use the
" cutter." This is a short hard black and curved thorn, situated
in the thick joiuts at base of fore wings, one on each side ; in a
rubbed specimen the thorn is easily discernible, but in a good
one it is concealed amongst the dense scales. This thorn is
present in all my species ; it can at once be felt in any speci-
men. It would be interesting to know whether anyone can state
whence the liquid issues which the moth discharges to soften
the cocoon where he cuts through ; it must issue from near the
thorn, for, as a rule, the scales left at base of the wing and along-
side of the thorax are wet and matted when the moth emerges.
The cutting operation takes a considerable time — several
hours ; I have known A. lorantJii to commence work at 2.30, and
still be cutting at 7 o'clock, the constant " clicking " being heard
several yards away. This species, besides having its cocoon to
cut through, has the "community covering" to negotiate as
well — an extra one-fourth or three-eighths of an inch of tough
but loose material. When about to change the larvae bunch
together at the butt of the loranthus, and set to work together to
spin a great outer web, which envelopes them. When this is
completed each insect then constructs a cocoon, which is very
thick and harder than those of ^4. eucalypti, ianetta, or Ji.elenece.
ORNITHOPTERA CASSANDRA AND O. RICHMONDIA. 17
One of these cocoon-masses* is forwarded, but some are larger ;
from a larger one I obtained seventeen moths. The cocoons are
so placed that each moth can get out — at least, that is my
experience.
ORNITHOPTERA CASSANDRA and 0. RICHMONDIA.
By F. p. Dodd.
Some entomologists are not quite satisfied that these fine
butterflies are distinct, for they are so alike in their larval and
perfect stages ; the larvae feed on Aristolochia of different species,
and the males of both have the strange habit of frequently flying
in pairs, it being quite a common sight to see a male of either
closely followed by another. A writer in the ' Victorian
Naturalist ' mentions this peculiarity in richmondia, and I have
noticed it myself in the Brisbane district.
With the larger and northern species cassandra, I am familiar
in all its stages. From an article which I read in the ' Entomo-
logist ' several years ago, I can state that that the eggs are
identical in colour ; the iarvse present a few slight differences,
the principal being that cassandra is generally darker, and with-
out a trace of the "invisible green " discernible in richmondia.
The pupa of the latter is vivid green, as mentioned in the article
referred to, and as seen by myself upon one occasion in the
Brisbane Museum.
Cassandra chrysalis may be mentioned as being of a light
brown underneath, and yellow above, between the wings and along
to tip of abdomen. Pupae in my boxes occasionally varied in a
slight degree in the yellow colouring, and pupae taken on green
leaves in tbe bush were identical with mine. Therefore, I presume,
such a wide and constant difference in the colour of the pupae of
the two butterflies is sufficient to prove that they are entirely
distinct. A healthy pupa of cassandra is being forwarded to Dr.
Turner, which may safely reach England. Most of the others of
a brood produced imagines in May ; this and several others still
left were no doubt destined to outlast the long dry period we have
between March and December or January. During some years'
residence in Townsville, I have never seen the butterfly before
December ; so I hope that this particular chrysalis may be
viewed by some of the entomologists of London. Should it
emerge, an empty shell is also sent, which shows the colouring
of a living chrysalis fairly well.
Warburton Street, Townsville, Queensland.
* This reminds us somewhat of a cluster of cocoons of Axylioniia sociella,
but the silk of which it is composed is coarser. — Ed.
ENTOM. — JANUARY, 1902. C
18 THE ENTOMOLOGIST.
DESCRIPTION OF TWO NEW GENERA AND THIRTEEN
NEW SPECIES OP ICHNEUMONID^ FROM INDIA.
By p. Cameron.
ToEBDA, gen. nov.
Head cubital, largely developed behind the eyes, which are large
and parallel ; the malar space is large. Clypeus not distinctly sepa-
rated from the face by a furrow ; its apex transverse. Labrum largely
projecting. Mandibles stout, their apex bidentate. Parapsidal fur-
rows distinct at the base. Pronotum tuberculate in the middle. Meso-
sternum indistinctly furrowed laterally behind. Median segment large,
rounded behind ; there is one transverse keel at the base ; the spiracles
are linear, not elongated. Areolet large, longer than wide ; the trans-
verse cubital nervures slightly converging above ; there is no stump of
a nervure on the disco-cubital nervure ; the transverse median nervure
is received behind the transverse basal ; the transverse median nervure
in the hind wings is broken at the middle. Legs elongate, stout ; the
tarsi spinose ; the fore tarsi are longer than the tibiae ; all the tarsi
are thickly spinose. Petiole stout, narrowed at the base ; the spiracles
are placed almost in the middle ; the penultimate segment is largely
developed, is nearly as long as the four preceding segments united ;
the last segment is distinctly longer laterally than the penultimate ;
its apex is depressed and clearly separated ; the cerci are long. The
antenna are long and stout ; the second and third joints are equal in
length ; the fore tibiae are distinctly narrowed at the base ; the claws
are simple ; the occiput is broadly incised, and has a distinct but not
sharp margin ; the scutellum is large, rounded, and hardly raised
above the level of the mesonotum ; the hinder coxa; are large, about
three times longer than thick ; the scutellar keels are thick. The
areolet is pentagonal, it being angled where the recurrent nervure is
received. In T. femorata, and in the luteous section of the genus, the
apex of the clypeus is obliquely depressed ; in the male of that species
the hinder tarsi are longer compared to the tibia.
I am not quite certain as to the exact location of this genus,
or if it should form one or two genera. It has some affinity
with the Cryptina. The position of the spiracles on the petiole
separates it from the Cryptina, The very large hypopygium is
somewhat as in the Acoenitini, but it cannot be referred to any
of the described genera in that group. The depressed clypeus in
some of the species is similar to what it is in the Xoridini, and
they have some relationship to Echthrus. Probably the natural
position of Torbda is with the Xorides. The species are very
large and handsome — among the largest of the Ichneumonidse.
A. Black, with white markings ; the legs fulvous, marked
with black and white.
1. Post-scutellum raised, depressed only laterally at the
base. Wings suffused with fuscous or violaceous,
not maculate. Large species.
DESCKIPTION OF ICHNEUMONID^ FROM INDIA. 19
a. Hinder femora and tibise fulvous.
Posterior knees and apex of tibiae black ; the scu-
tellum black, its apex white . . ijenicidatd , Cam.
Posterior knees and apex of tibiae not marked with
black ; the scutellum white, with a black line in
the centre at the base . . . riolaceipemiis, Cam.
b. Posterior femora and tibite for the greater part black
femorata, Cam.
2. Post-scutellum widely hollowed ; the fore wings with
a cloud at the base of the subdiscoidal nervure ;
the areolet smaller, and receiving the recurrent
nervure in the middle ; the cubital nervure at the
base roundly curved, not straight, oblique and
parallel with the basal . . . maculipennis, Cam.
B. Fulvous, marked with black ; the recurrent nervure is
received at the base of the apical third of the
cellule ; the lower part of the cubital nervure at
the base straight, oblique and parallel with the
basal ; the basal half of the petiole distinctly
narrowed ; the top and lower side of the petiole
sharply margined. Clypeal suture distinct.
Wings brassy ; the stigma rufo-testaceous ; the abdo-
minal segments lined with black at the base only ;
the apical segment with a small triangular de-
pression in the middle, from which an obscure
furrow runs obliquely down the sides . fahjidipennis, Cam.
Wings smoky, paler at the base ; the third and follow-
ing segments of the abdomen deep black ; the last
dorsal segment with an elongate depression down
the middle ...... apkalis, Cam.
TORBDA FULGIDIPENNIS, Sp. nOV.
Ferruginea, thorace abdomineque nigro-maculatis ; alis fulvo-
fumatis ; stigmate fulvo ; nervis nigris ; pedibus ferrugineis ; coxis
posterioribus nigro-maculatis. ? . Long. 23 mm. ; terebra, 13 mm.
Hah. Khasia (coll. Rothney).
ToRBDA APICALIS, Sp. nOV.
Ferruginea ; maculis thoracis, apice antennarum late, apice abdo-
minis terebraque nigris ; alis violaceo-hyalinis, stigmate nervisque
nigris. ? . Long. 18 mm. ; terebra, 11 mm.
Hah. Khasia (coll. Rothney).
ToRBDA GENICULATA, Sp. DOV.
Nigra, capite, thorace abdomineque albomaculatis ; pedibus fulvis,
trochauteribus, geniculis apiceque tibiarum posticarum late nigris ;
coxis albis, nigro maculatis ; alis fulvo-hyalinis, nervis stigmateque
nigris. . Long. 23 mm. ; terebra, 13 mm.
Hah. Khasia (coll. Fiothney).
c2
20 THE ENTOMOLOGIST.
TORBDA VIOLACEIPENNIS, Sp. nOV.
Nigra, facie, orbitis oculorum late thoraceque albomaculatis ; pedi-
bus fulvis ; coxis nigris, albomaculatis ; alis violaceo-fumatis ; nervis
stigmateque nigris. ? . Long. 25 mm. ; terebra, 10 mm.
Hab. Khasia (coll. Rothney).
ToRBDA FEMORATA, Sp. nOV.
Nigra, late albo-maculata ; pedibus fulvis ; coxis trochanteribusque
albis ; coxis, femoribus dimidioque apicali tibiarum posticarum nigris ;
tarsis posticis albis, basi nigro ; alis fusco-hyalinis, nervis stigmateque
nigris, $ . Long. 22 mm.
Hab. Khasia (coll. Rothney).
ToRBDA MACULIPENNIS, Sp. nOV.
Nigra, capite, thorace abdomineque albo-maculatis ; pedibus fulvis ;
coxis anticis albis, posterioribus nigris, basi albis ; alis hyalinis, stig-
mate uervisque nigris. ? . Long. 14 mm. ; terebra, 6-7 mm.
Hab. Khasia (coll. Rothney).
CoLGANTA, gen. nov.
Areolet large, wider above than below ; tbe transverse basal ner-
vure interstitial or nearly so ; in the hind wings the transverse median
nervure is broken below the middle ; the radial cellule elongate, narrow.
Antennae stout, stouter at the apex than at the base ; the basal joints
of the fiagellum greatly elongated. Eyes large, almost parallel, widely
distant from the base of the mandibles. Clypeus not clearly separated
by a suture from the face ; the mandibles short, thick, bidentate at the
apex. Labrum minute. Palpi long. Parapsidal furrows obsolete.
Scutellum keeled laterally. Median segment with two curved keels at
the base ; its spiracles large, linear, oblique. Petiole longer than the
second segment, distinctly dilated at the apex ; the spiracles are placed
near the base of the post-petiole, as in Ichneumon ; there are eight
segments ; the ovipositor projects. Legs stout ; the tarsi spinose ; the
claws large, curved, simple. In the only known male the antennae are
serrate, densely pilose, and taper perceptibly towards the apex. The
head is obliquely narrowed behind, and has the occiput sharply keeled.
The pterostigma is elongate, narrow.
The systematic position of this genus is not very clear. Only
two views are tenable ; it either forms a new tribe, or it forms a
new subtribe of the Cryptina. It has a furrow on the lower part
of the mesopleuriB, as in the Cryptina, and the female has the
exserted ovipositor of that group, but it wants the parapsidal
furrows ; the transverse cubital nervures are oblique, and con-
verge towards the bottom, while in the Cryptina they are either
straight or converge towards the top. The form of the metanotal
keels is different from what it is with the Cryptina ; in that
group they are straight, transverse, and do not form arese. In the
present group they are interrupted, and bent backwards, so that
two complete areae are formed.
DESCRIPTION OF ICHNEUMONID^: FROM INDIA.
21
COLGANTA NIGRO-MACULATA, Sp. DOV.
Lutea, antennis nigris, flagello late albo annulato ; mesonoto,
femoribus, tibiis tarsisque posticis nigris ; alis fulvo-hyalinis ; nervis
stigmateque nigris. ? . Long, 15 mm. ; terebra, fere 3 mm.
Hah. Sarawak, Borneo {Shelf ord).
Autennse black, the sixth to nineteenth joints white. Head luteous ;
the vertex broadly in the middle and the greater part of the occiput
black ; the face is wrinkled in the centre ; the sides bear large round
clearly separated punctures ; the mandibles are broadly black at the
base. Thorax luteous, the sides paler in tint ; the mesonotum and the
sides of the median segment at the base black ; the mesonotum is
closely punctured ; the scutellum is thickly covered with long black
hair ; the scutellum is keeled to near the apex. The median segment
is wrinkled ; the basal keels are straight at the base ; the rest of them
are irregularly twisted and curved towards the edges of the segments,
where they join a straight lateral outer keel, a large enclosed area being
thus formed, which is about twice longer than broad. Propleurse
punctured above, the middle obliquely striated. Mesopleurfe smooth
and shining ; the metapleurae with the lower apical part stoutly
obliquely striated. The four front legs are coloured like the body,
with the middle femora darker above ; the hind legs black ; the coxae
and the basal joint of the trochanters luteous ; the coxaB are marked
with black at the apex above. The apex of the petiole and the other
abdommal segments are for the greater part fuscous-black above.
CoLGANTA RUFIPES, Sp. IIOV.
Nigra ; pedibus rufis ; tibiis posticis nigris ; alis fulvo-hyalinis. $ .
Long. 15 mm. ; terebra, 4 mm.
Hah. Borneo.
Antennse black, the eighth to seventeenth joints white beneath ; the
apical joints brownish. The face roundly projects in the middle, and
is there closely but not strongly punctured ; the sides bear large deep
punctures, and are irregularly striated on the inner side ; the malar
space is brownish ; on the lower inner orbits is a pale yellowish mark.
Mesonotum and scutellum closely punctured ; the apex of the scutellum
and the post-scutellum pale testaceous. The base of the median seg-
ment is closely punctured and irregularly striated ; the middle of the
apical slope of the segment is closely, irregularly striated ; the sides
are coarsely, irregularly reticulated ; the lower outer part bears four
stout keels, and is bordered by keels on either side. The lower half of
the propleurse is stoutly keeled ; the mesopleurfe almost smooth; the
metapleurte closely, obliquely striated on the apical half. Legs rufous ;
the apex of the hinder femora, the tibi^, and the base of the hinder
tarsi black ; the rest of the hinder tarsi white. Abdomen black ; the
apical two segments white above.
This genus is probably well represented in Northern India.
The species known to me from the Khasia Hills may readily be
recognized by the following table. They are all fulvous or
ferruginous in colour.
22 THE ENTOMOLOGIST.
1 (8) Areolet distinctly narrowed on the lower side ;» the
nervures oblique.
2 (5) The tarsi not black, at most only slightly annulated
with black.
3 (4) Wings hyaline, suffused yellow or fulvous ; the an-
tennfE pale yellow, the apex broadly black. Length,
12 mm. ; terebra, 4 mm. .„ . . fulvipennis, Cam.
4 (3) Wings dark violaceous ; the antennse blackish, amiu-
lated with dark fulvous. Length, IG mm. S"
falgidipennis, Cam.
5 (2) The tarsi black.
6 (7) The tibife black. Length, 12 mm. $ . . tibialis, Cam.
7 (6) The tibijB not black. Length, 12 mm. <? . tarsalis, C&m.
8 (1) Areolet not distinctly narrowed on the lower side;
the nervures straight. Length, 12 mm. ; tere-
bra, 2 mm. ^ . . . . . tiibercidata, Cam.
DESCEIPTION OF A NEW GRASSHOPPER FROM NATAL
[POMATONOTA BIPUXCTATA, Kirb.)
By W. F. Kirby, F.L.S.
Among some Orthoptera recently received by Mr. Distant
from Natal, collected by Mr. A. Eoss, I found a pair which
appear to belong to a new sj)ecies allied to Pomatonota dregii,
Burm. This is a small green species, with very long legs,
belonging to the family Mecopodidfe, and the subfamily Moris-
tinffi. The wings are short and broad in the fully developed
insect ; but in the only specimen of P. dregii at present in the
Natural History Musuem they are only just visible under the
shield. The types of P. hipunctata are also apterous or sub-
apterous. Whether the specimens before me are immature, or
whether they are micropterous specimens of a dimorphous
species, we must wait for more specimens to decide. A descrip-
tion is given below.
Pomatonota bipunctata, sp. n.
S' . Long. Corp. 20 mm. ; capit. et pron. 13 mm. ; fem. post.
20 mm. $ . Long. corp. 17 mm. ; capit. et pron. 10 mm. ; fem.
post. 14 mm. ; ovip. 15 mm.
Size and general shape of P. dregii, Burm. Brown, with a slight
reddish or coppery lustre, especially on the face ; mandibles smooth,
shining, pale orange ; hinder edge of the pronotum marked with two
large black spots, and a few smaller ones beyond and on the disc ;
abdomen with some longitudinal rows of black dots, and with a
purplish and black oblong mark at the base on each side ; wings in
male blackish, half hidden by the shield, somewhat as in the European
genus P]phi/ipi(/('y, which this species also resembles in the long slender
upcurved ovipositor.
NOTES AND OBSEBVATIONS. 23
The colour, and especially the two conspicuous black spots at
the extremity of the pronotum, besides the form of the ovipositor,
will sufficiently distinguish the present species from P. dregii.
From Epliippiger, which belongs to another family, the struc-
tural characters, such as the open foramina and the two spines
on the prosternum, will distinguish it at a glance.
One pair of this rather remarkable insect, which will be
figured in a forthcoming part of Mr. Distant's ' Insecta Trans-
vaaliensia.'
NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS.
Aberration of Vanessa urtic-e. — The Reverend Archibald Day
has been good enough to send for inspection a well- executed coloured
drawing of a variety of V. urticoB that he captured at Storridge, near
Malvern, in Worcestershire, on September 26th, 1901. It is a modi-
fication of the aberration of this species figured in the ' Entomologist,'
vol. xxxiii. pi. iii. fig. 1, but differs from that specimen in having the
outer margin of all the wings normally angulated ; the outer marginal
area of the fore wings is more variegated, and there are some rather
large blue submarginal spots on the hind wings. There is a blue spot
between second and third median nervules of fore wing, placed farther
from the margin than the normal blue spots in typical F. urtica;.
Autumnal Pupation of Cerigo cytherea. — I have a number of
larvjB of C. cytherea which I am endeavouring to get through the
winter ; they are all about an inch in length, excepting two, which fed
up rapidly to a large size and have subsequently pupated. It would
be interesting to know if it is the rule for this species to pupate in the
late autumn, as I believe they are commonly known as hybernators. —
A. J. Lawrance ; Bromley Common, Kent.
Third Brood of Phragmatobia fuliginosa. — On May 5th last I
had a female P. fuliginosa sent me by a friend, and on the 8tli she laid
between thirty and forty whitish eggs. These began to hatch on
May 23rd, a dark speck having appeared two days before in each egg,
which gradually spread over the whole, making it appear of a dark
grey colour. All of them hatched out by next day. The caterpillars
were then of a dark greyish colour, most difficult to distinguish from
their food-plant. They fed well on dock, eating the lower membrane,
and lying on the under side of the leaf along the veins. From some
cause, possibly being too dry at their first moult, their number was on
the 29th reduced to six ; they were then covered with light reddish
hairs, but this tint on June' 1st became much darker, so that there
was no further difficulty in seeing them. They grew fast, and five
ultimately spun up about the end of June ; unfortunately I omitted to
make a note of the exact days. They were, however, about eighteen
days in the pupa state, and the first moths emerged on July 18th.
They proved to be a pair, and again I had a batch of between forty
and fifty fertile eggs. The larvae began to emerge on July 29th, and
24 THE ENTOMOLOGIST.
all came out on that and the following day. I have so far been
successful in rearing most of these. They varied considerably in size
from the first, and by the end of September ranged from one-half to
one inch in length, some of them apparently being at least a moult
behind others. The colour of the hair of those similarly advanced
also varied from light reddish to dark brown, the latter being by far
the commoner ; and it will be interesting to note whether the iraagos
will differ in the same way. Two spun up on Sept. 25th and 26th,
but the remaining caterpillars, thirty-four in number, continued to
feed until the end of October, and are now hybernating. The two that
pupated in September emerged on Oct. 23rd and 27th respectively,
but unfortunately were not a pair. They have been kept in a corner
of a room facing east, with the window generally open. — James
Douglas ; Sherborne.
On the Habits of Macrothylacia (Bombyx) rubl — In ' The Lepi-
doptera of the British Islands,' Mr. Barrett says concerning the larvas
of Macrothylacia (Bombt/x) nihi, "It feeds vigorously through the
summer, becoming full grown in the late autumn, when it reposes at
full length on any plant or on the ground in the sunshine." My
experience is that it never appears until after the sun has gone down.
There is a field near here where they are abundant, but although I
have searched, I have never found one in the sunshine ; but im-
mediately after the sun has gone down I could collect fifty or a hundred
with ease. I am only referring to the late autumn ; in the early
spring I have no doubt that they come out iu the sunshine, but I have
not yet had an opportunity of finding this out. Mr. Newman says
that the hairs of the caterpillar are abundantly intermixed in the
cocoon. This also I have not found to be the case, although I must
confess that my experience of the cocoon is limited to three or four. —
L. M. Seth Smith; Alleyue, Caterham Valley, Surrey, Nov. 13th, 1901.
CAPTURES AND FIELD REPORTS.
Sphinx convolvuli in Dorsetshire. — During the month of Septem-
ber last I tooK twenty-nine S. convolxuU, flying about tobacco-flowers at
dusk ; they appeared each night the same length of time after the sun
had set, practically to a minute. Those taken at the beginning of the
month were much the larger, though not in such good condition. Two
females in this batch measured no less than 124 mm. and 127 mm.
respectively across the wings ; the largest male 113 mm. Tlie extreme
given by Meyrick is 118 mm. Males were also much scarcer, number-
ing only six out of nineteen, while of ten last taken four were males.
These last were smaller, and in absolutely fresh condition ; the females
apparently barren, there being no difference between them and the
males in the shape or size of the body, while there was a decided and
very apparent difference amongst the first lot. These data would
seem to point to the fact that the later specimens were English bred ;
and they may also go some way towards explaining why iS. conrolculi
fails to become a permanent resident. It would be interesting to
CAPTURES AND FIELD REPORTS.
25
know whether the experience of other collectors would confirm these
deductions or otherwise. — James Douglas ; Sherborne.
Sphinx convolvuli and Acheron tia atropos in London and Somer-
setshire. — One evening last autumn a living specimen of Sphinx con-
voU-uli was brought to me to identify. It had been caught in Shore-
ditch, flying to the light of a shop-window, and about the same time
a specimen was sent me from Wellington, Somerset, which was found
there at rest on a wooden post. About the beginning of October a
very fine specimen of Acheroyitia atropos was brought to me, which haa
recently been taken at rest on the ground in a garden at Bow. This
was in very fine condition ; that is more than could be said of the
specimens of *S'. cunvolvuU. — F. Milton ; 7, Chilton Street, Bethnal
Green, Nov. 13th, 1901.
Xylina furcifera (conformis) in Lancashire. — Mr. C. H. Forsythe,
of Lancaster, recently sent me a very nice photograph of a moth which
he was unable to identify, and which I recognized as X. conformis.
He states that he took two specimens when beating ivy blossom late
at night, nearly 12 o'clock, on Oct. 22nd last. — Richard South.
Chariclea delphinii. — Two examples of this species have been pre-
sented to the British Museum by Mr. J. F. Bennett. These examples,
which will be added to the British Collection of Lepidoptera at South
Kensington, were obtained at Brighton in 1876, by Mr. Bennett's late
father. It is not known whether the examples were captured or reared,
but although slightly faded in colour they are in very perfect condition.
The British history of this species is given by Mr. Barrett, Lep. Brit.
Islands, vi. p. 145. The localities there mentioned are chiefly Berks
and Middlesex, and the dates early in the last century.
Xanthia (Mellinia) ocellaris in North Kent. — I beg to record the
capture of M. ocellaris in small numbers, at sugar, in a locality in
Kent not far from Wilmington. In 1899 I took three ; in 1900, three ;
and a friend who worked with me, a pair. This September I was too
busy to go for the species, but I hope to work it up next year.
M. gilvario and M. citrago usually are freely taken with M. ocellaris in
my locality. Three of these specimens are now in the cabinet of E. D.
Bostock, Esq. — L. W. Newman ; Bexley, Kent.
LuPERiNA dumerili AT DovER. — I havc the pleasure to announce the
capture of a fine female of this rare Noctua, on a gas-lamp in this
town, during the latter part of September. It would be as well to put
on record that I have parted with the specimen, and it is now in the
collection of Mr. Eustace R. Bankes. — H. Douglas Stockwell ;
2, Albert Road, Dover, Dec. 16th, 1901.
Ophiodes lunaris in Cheshire. — While sugaring at Delamere
Forest, in company with Mr. A. G.Wallington, in June last, I took a large
Noctua which neither I nor Mr. Wallington could identify ; and it was
not till a week or two ago, when some of my entomological friends of
this town, Messrs. Womersley and Collins, saw it among my season's
captures, that it was recognized as Ophiodes lunaris. I may add that
this specimen was exhibited at the Entomological Society of London
on Dec. 6th, atid also at Chester by Mr. Collins on Dec. 9th. —
T. Wright; 13, Heath Side, Warrington, Dec. 12th, 1901.
26 THE ENTOMOLOGIST.
Treatment of Pup^e during the Winter. — Some of us have found
it difficult to rear imagines from dug puppe of Amphidasi/a betularia,
and a few other species, as they are so apt to dry up. By putting
them in a small tin box, say a tobacco-box, with holes punched in it
top and bottom, and burying it a few inches deep in the ground out of
doors, I liave obtained satisfactory results during the last two or three
years. I put a few dry leaves on the top of the box to keep the mould
from going through the holes into the box. — F. Milton ; 7, Chilton
Street, Bethnal Green, London, E.
Macro-Lepidoptera in North Staffordshire in 1901. — The past
season has been a very productive one in North Staffordshire, a large
number of species having been taken that we had not met with before.
Our first captures for the year were Phigaiia pilosaria, Hy hernia pro -
gemmaria, &c., and on March 31st one Cyiinitophoni flavicornis was
taken, and several more early in April, at rest on birch twigs. Other
species noticed during April were Anisopteryx (eacularia, Anticlea
badiata, Larentia mitldstrigaria, Trachea piniperda (abundantly on sallow
bloom, in company with Tceniocanipa gothica), T. rubricosa, T. inatahilis,
T. tttabilis, T. cruda, &c.
May : — EiicJdo'e cardamines, Tliecla rnhi, Saturnia carpini, Venilia
maculata (in the Manifold Valley, very common in Dovedale), Aviphi-
dasys betularia (black var.), Tephruda crepiiscnlaria, Bupaliis pijiiaria,
Abraxas ulmata, Lovias/dlis marginata, Emmclesia affinitata (a few),
Hj/p.upetes ruberata, on the moors (the larv?e of this species we have
taken not uncommonly some years on sallow), H. inipliiviata, Scotosia
dubitata (one hybernated specimen). On the 28th two worn females
of Acrongcta vienganthidis were taken on the moors, from one of which
we obtained a batch of ova, and were successful in rearing fifty or
sixty larvas on sallow. Hadena glnucavf&s also fairly common.
June : — Macroglossa stellatarum, Procris geryon (common locally in
Dovedale), Chelonia plantaginis (on the moors), Odontopera bidentata,
Aathena puJchraria (in the Manifold Valley near Dovedale), Eupisteria
heparata, Venusia eambricaria, Ewinelesia alche))iillata, Eupithecia veno-
sata (larvffi of this pretty species were taken from Sile7ie iDjiata planted
in the garden), Melanthia ocellata, M. albiciUata, Melanippe tristata
(common, but local), M. galiata, Cidaria corgi at a, Acrongcta mega-
cephala, Miami fasciuncnla, Gramriu'sia trilinea (at light), Abrostola
nrtica and A. triplasia (at flowers of rocket, and at light).
July : — Epinephele ianira, Zygana filipendidcB, Nudaria mimdana,
Liparis auriflna (at light), Uropteryx mmbucata , Larentia cafiiata,
Anaitis plagiata, Cidaria pyraliata, C. dotata (freely at light), Plusia
interrogationis (a single specimen of this insect was taken, at rest, on a
wall, on the moors, on July 8th).
August: — Vanessa urticce. (very common), T". io (this insect, which
we have not seen for several years, has been fairly common during
August), V. atalanta (not nearly so abundant as last year), Guncpteryx
rhanini (a hybernated specimen of this butterfly, which is rare in the
county, was seen in Dovedale on June 4th, also early in August, and
a specimen was taken in the Manifold Valley on the 21st), Halia
vauaria, Oporahia filigrammaria (a few on the moors at the end of the
month), Melanthia rubiginata, Cidaria ribesiaria, C. testata, C. popidata,
CAPTURES AND FIELD REPORTS. 2?
C. fitlvata, EuhoHa menHunria, E. bipuiictaria, CharcBaH graminis, Noctua
f/lareosa (at flowers of heather), Xanthia citrarjo, X. cerafjo, Cirrhcedia
xerampelina (this insect, which we had not taken previous to this year,
was found in the Manifold Valley, where seven specimens were taken
on Aug. 21st, and three more on the 25th ; they were all found at the
foot of ash-trees and on the surrounding herbage, between three and
four o'clock in the afternoon), Tethea suhtusa (bred from larvae taken
on poplar in June), Cloantha solidaginis, and Gonoptera llbatrix.
Sugaring we did not try until early in September, when it proved
exceedingly attractive. Anchocelis litura was on the trees in great
numbers, together with Hydraicia nictitans, H. micacea (worn), Arp'otis
safitsa, A. sancin (two specimens), A.segetum, Noctuaglareosa, N.plecta,
Orthosia macilenta, Anchocdis riifinci, Xanthia cerago. On Sept. 11th
two specimens of X. gilvago turned up in fair condition, and on the
18th two more were taken, also X. ferruginea, Polia chi, Miselia oxy-
acantlm (and the dark brown var.), Agriopis aprilina, Phlogophora
meticulosa, Hadena proteua. On Sunday the 29th, having occasion to
pass the trees that had been sugared the previous evening, a fine speci-
men of Vanessa c-albuvi was taken, feeding on the sugar ; Ceiastis
vaccina and Calocampa exoleta were also taken early in October, and
Pcecilocampa populi in November. — J. & W. Hill; 7, Westwood Grove,
Leek, Staffordshire, Nov. 14th, 1901.
NOLA ALBULALIS AND NoNAGRIA SPARGANII IN SoUTH DeVOX. 1 have
this week had sent to me for determination one of two specimens of
Nola albulalis captured in South Devon during the past season, but
I am asked at present not to state the exact locality. It is a fine and
well-marked example. I have also seen a Xonagria sparganii from the
same district. Neither species has, I believe, hitherto been recorded
for Devonshire, though I understand the latter has been known to
occur in the county for two or three years or more. — Geo. T. Porritt ;
Crosland Hall, near Huddersheld, Dec. 20th, 1901.
'■^ Correction. — The hair-grass alluded to (Entom. xxxiv. 325) is
probably Festuca orina (small plants of this order are difficult to
identify for certain), not Aira caspitosa, as stated. — F. W. F.
Abundance of Melit^a aurinia in Co. Westmeath. — I have been
greatly struck by the abundance of the young larvte of M. aurinia
here this autumn. I searched for them in several localities where the
food-plant is common, and in every case found them in numbers. In
one locality, where they were specially numerous, I collected, I am
sure, several thousand in less than half an hour, and could have taken
plenty more. In one particular spot I counted no less than eleven of
the webs which they spin, all within an area of about fifteen square
yards ; and as each web contained from about fifty up to several
hundred larvfe, it will give some idea of their numbers. — B. L.
MiDDLETON ; Mullingar, Nov. 3rd, 1901.
Vanessid^ is 1901. — I was specially on the look-out for these
during last season, with the followmg results : — Vanesm atalanta was
plentiful, although not so common as last year, but the specimens
were very small, one measuring only If in. V. urticcc was more
28 ^ THE ENTOMOLOGIST.
common than usual, and very line specimens of this favourite insect
frequented the gardens, seeming, with V. atalanta, to be especially
fond of " everlastings." Not a single specimen of V. io was observed,
but one fine specimen of V. jwlychlurus was seen on Aug. 4th. Early
I saw an hybernated specimen of V. cardni, although I had not seen
any during 1900. The spot where I saw it was a favourite walU, and
as I saw one on several other occasions, I afc last came to the conclu-
sion that it was a solitary specimen, and on July 17th I caught it, and
found it to be a male. This was the only example I saw during the
season, although I searched the neighbourhood well, and there are
plenty of thisdes and also plenty of "ling," of which, I believe, this
species is fond. — A. Marshall ; Cranbrook, Kent.
SOCIETIES.
Entomological Society of London. — Xovember 6th, 1901. — The
Rev. Canon Fowler, M.A., F.L.S., President, in the chair. — Mr.
Arthur W. Bacot, 154, Lower Clapton Road, London, N.E. ; Mr.
Edward Martin Dadd, 3, Colina Villas, Green Lanes, Wood Green,
N. ; Mr. George Frederick Leigh, Musgrave Road, Durban, Natal;
Mr. Rupert S. Lower, Oswaldton, Bartley Crescent, WayviUe, South
Australia; Mr. John Crampton Wilkinson Kershaw, Macao, China;
Mr. Henry Woolner Peal, Indian Museum, Calcutta ; Mr. Ethelbert
Forbes Skertchly, Hong-Kong ; and Mr. Arthur Smith, 5, Cavendish
Street, Grimsby, were elected Fellows of the Society. — The Rev. F. D.
Morice exhibited two imperfectly developed females of Osmia lenco-
melana found dead in a rubus stem at Woking, with their cases. —
Mr. C. P. Pickett exhibited a series of (Mias hyale taken at Folkestone
during August, 1900-1, including one male dwarf, one male with
smoky hind wings, one male with the edge of the hind wings showing
a double row of serrated curves, three males with very deep yellow
colouring and with spots in the centre of the hind wings twice the
normal size, one male under side without spots, one male showing a
row of black dots running parallel round the fore and hind wings, also
one female with the edge of the hind wings showing a double row of
serrated curves, one female with extra deep border to the fore wings,
and one female with only half the usual border to the fore wings. —
Mr. F. B. Jennings exhibited a specimen of Trachyphlmia tnyrmeco-
philits, Seidl., taken at Hastings in September last, retaining intact
the deciduous "false mandibles," with the aid of which the imago of
the species of this and certain other genera of weevils is said to work
its way to the surface after emerging from the pupa under ground.
These mandibles are usually shed as soon as the imago begins its life
above ground, as there is no further use for them. — • Mr. W. J. Kaye
exhibited a collection of butterflies made by him in Trinidad, with
several hitherto undescribed species. He said that the probable total
Rhopalocerous fauna was about 250 species, the island— practically, the
size of Somersetshire — being thus remarkably rich in butterflies. The
number of the species in the families exhibited were: Nymphalidpe, 34 ;
Satyridffi, 13; Papilionidte, 6 ; Pieridae, 31 ; Erycinidse, 29; Lycsenid^,
SOCIETIES. 29
27 ; Hesperiid^, 62 — nearly all taken within three or four miles of
Port of Spain. The series of Helicoidns telchinia and Tithorea meriara
var. Jiavescens were particularly fine, showing the yellow colouration
only found in Trinidad and upon the coast of Venezuela immediately
opposite. A long series of PapUio xeuxis and P. alyattus, many of them
bred from the same parent, female, show that these two are really
identical species. The number of Erycinidfe in Trinidad compared
with the poverty of the same family in other West Indian islands alone
indicates the different origin of its fauna, and suggests affinity with the
mainland of Venezuela, which at the nearest point is but seven miles
distant. — Dr. Chapman exhibited specimens of ParnassiKs apollo taken
last July in Castile and Aragon (Spain), as well as a number of speci-
mens of both P. apollo and P. deliiis, chiefly Swiss and French, taken
by himself, Mr. Tutt, Mr. A. H. Jones (at Digne), and Mr. Rowland
Brown (at Susa, North Italy), for comparison with the Spanish speci-
mens and to illustrate the extent to which the races of these species
approached each other in Western Europe. The Spanish specimens
differed from most of the others in their great size, the males reaching
3f in. in expanse, and the females 3| in. Both males and females
seemed to be exceedingly close to the Asiatic form of apollo, called
heseboliis, in general facies. The males placed between ordinary Swiss
apollo and deliiis obviously incline much more to the latter than the
former in general tone of colour and intensity of markings. The
females were very large, and varied to forms with much increased red
ocelli. The best character whereby to distinguish apollo and deliits is
certainly the black ringed antennae, which are also usually proportionally
shorter. The denser creamier colouring is also very characteristic, yet
this would make the Aragon specimen delius. The pouch of the female
appears to be identical in both species. The male appendages seem to
have no ascertained structural difference beyond one in size, those of
apoUo being larger and apparently more solid. In the Spanish apollo
this is markedly so, the differences, however, less proportionately than
may be observed in Erebia cethiops, of which the appendages of Conti-
nental specimens are so much larger than those of British examples. —
Mr. G. C. Bignell sent for discussion a specimen of Sphecophaga
vesparuiji, Curt., and the cocoon from which it had been bred. Mr.
Donisthorpe expressed his opinion that the host was a ground wasp. —
Mr. Gilbert J. Arrow communicated a paper upon "The Genus Hyliota,
with descriptions of new forms, and a list of described species" ; and
Mr. W. L. Distant, " Contributions to a knowledge of the Rhynchota."
Xovember 20th. — Mr. G. H. Verrall, Vice-President, in the chair. —
Mr. James B. Casserley, 7, Gloucester Road, Finsbury Park, N., and
Mr. M. Lawson Thompson, 35, Leven Street, Saltburn-by-the-Sea,
were elected Fellows of the Society. — Mr. A. H. Jones exhibited
various Lepidoptera from the Cevennes, including a series of Lycmia
dolus var. vittata, L. damon, L. meleager, Melanargia iapygia var. cleanthe,
and M. galatea ab. leucomelas ; also a dark form of Thais ceiisyi bred
from a pupa received from Armenia. He also exhibited a specimen of
Vanessa antiopa taken this year at Eltham, and two specimens of
Cerastes erythrocephala bred from ova laid by parent moth captured at
sallows near Canterbury. — Mr. H. Rowland Brown exhibited a re-
30 THE ENTOMOLOGIST.
markable var. of MelitcBa dulf/ma, taken at Chateau de la Caze, Tarn, in
which the black markings of the lower under-side wings were almost
entirely absent ; and a series of Lyccena dolus var. vittata from the
Ceveunes, with L. admetus var. ripjjertii, from Digne, showing the re-
markable affinity of the two species, which, however, were never found on
the same ground or in the same localities while collecting. — Dr. Chapman
exhibited butterflies taken by himself and Mr. G. C. Champion in the
Sierra Albarraein, Spain, last July. He said: " The district traversed
by Mr. Champion and myself was practically the same as that described
by Mrs. Nicholl in the ' Transactions ' for 1897, and not many new
butterflies were added to Mrs. Nicholl's list. Z. querciis was taken at
Tragacete, but this is in Castile, not in Aragon. Auyiades sylvanus was
taken both at Albarraein and Tragacete. AdojuBa act(Bon was met with
at Cuenca (Castile), while Adopaa linea seemed to be more abundant
than (ineola at all stations. L. Jujlas and its variety ?iuvs(v«s occurred on
the same ground. The common form of L. conjdon seemed to be corij-
donius, or near that variety; this was especially abundant at Tragacete,
and was met with at all other places. The very large pale form hispana
was the commonest at Albarraein, where the corydonim form was rare,
and at Cnenca, and was not seen at Tragacete. Looking at these and
other dimorphic forms occurring here, one could not help questioning
whether adiin'tus might not be a dimorphic form of damon. The former
was often abundant, the latter always rather scarce. The females,
however, have constant differences, and the general tone of colour and
arrangement of spots on the under sides seem abundantly sufficient to
satisfy one that they are definite species, though very closely allied.
L. dolus, however, seems to precisely occupy the relation to damon that
nivescens does to hylas, and that the vars. hispana and albicans do to
corydon. The male appendages of the three — damon, dolus, and admetus
— appear to be identical. We observed nothing to account for or explain
the use of the colouring of Satynis var. uhayoni. It resembles very much
the female of semele, which is abundant on the same ground. But the
habits of flight of the two are very different, and we never in fact mis-
took one for the other. The brown colour is no doubt the original one
in the Satyrids, but in this case is more probably a reversion." — Mr.
L. B. Prout exhibited a number of Geometridaj, also taken by Dr.
Chapman and Mr. Champion in Spain. — Mr. F. Merrifield exhibited
specimens of Pieris rapes and P. eryane from Dalmatia, showing that
the two species are extremely difficult to separate, even if they are not
identical. — -Mr. C. P. Pickett exhibited varieties of Aryynnis papJiia and
A. aylaiu from the New Forest.- — Mr. C. J. Watkins sent for exhibition
micro-photographs of the larva in its case and the perfect insect of an
Oxyethira, one of the Hydroptilidse, a family of Micro-Trichoptera ;
these had been taken by Mr. Mearns, of Aberdeen. Also a drawing
made by himself under the microscope of a larva (in its case) of the
same genus. — H. Eowland Brown, Hon. Sec
South London Entomologica.l and Natural History Society. —
October 24th, 1901. — Mr. A. Harrison, F.L.S., in the chair. — Mr.
"West (Greenwich) exhibited about ninety species of British Homoptera,
mainly taken by himself, and which he generously gave to the Society's
collection. — Mr. Barnett, a long series of BryophUa muralis [ylandifera)
RECENT LITERATURE. 31
of a somewhat dull coloration, from Shorncliffe, and a series of B. perla,
including one particularly dark form. — Mr. W. J. Kaye, two species of
Lepidoptera new to science, discovered by him at Bartica, British
Guiana, during a collecting expedition this year, viz. Fapilio sp.?
near F. latinus, and a Sphingid Ambulyx sp. ? near A. strigUu. — Mr.
H. Moore, specimens of Sphinx convolvuli taken at Rotherhithe this
autumn, and an example of S. litjustri bred from a larva found in the
same place. — Messrs. Harrison and Main, six specimens of -S. ro?it'o/r«Zi
taken at the electric lights on the Romford Road, E. — Mr. R. Adkin,
bred series of Plusia muneta from larvcB found in a garden at Bexley,
and a bred series of P. gamma from eggs laid by a female which flew
into his house. He contributed notes on the occurrence, feeding, and
habits of the latter species. Mr. Adkin also showed a series of Boarnda
repandata taken by Mr. McArthur in the Isle of Lewis in 1901. The
latter gentleman exhibited the same species, captured in 1887 and
1901 in the same place ; also a case set up to show the resting habit of
the species on the rocks. He also showed a series of Melauippe sociata
var. ubscurata from the same locality. — Mr. Main, an unusually large
specimen of the spider Tegenaria domestica. — Dr. Chapman, Jir;oM^ia
urania, a beautiful North American Noctuid he had bred, and three
New Zealand specimens of a species of Oeketicus.
November ith. — Mr. W. J. Lucas, B.A., Vice-President, in the chair.
Mr. Lowe, of Putney, was elected a member. — Messrs. Harrison and
Main exhibited a long bred series of Agriopis aprilina from the
New Forest, and series of Calocainpa exoleta from Delamere Forest. —
Mr. Moore, a trap-door spider's nest from Corfu. — Dr. Chapman, long
and varied series of Purnassius apollo and P. delius from various
European localities, with many intermediate forms. — Mr. Percy F.
Smith gave a lecture on " Spiders," illustrated with a large number of
lantern slides. — Hy. J. Turner, Hon. Report Sec.
RECENT LITERATURE.
D. W. CoQuiLLETT. A Systematic Arrangement of the Families of the
Diptera. (1901 Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus. xxiii. pp. 653-8.)
The old Latreilleian primary divisions (1805) are adopted, with
names '^ Proboscidea" and '' Epruboscidea" (Pupipara).''' The latter
embraces the families Nycteribiidas and Hippoboscidre, and is con-
sidered to differ so importantly from the other forms in structure,
habits, and reproduction, as to justify its separation into a group
equivalent to all the other Diptera. The Tipulidfe are placed at the
lowest rung of the Proboscidea, on account of their " comparatively
large size, elongated form, weak organization, numerous, many-
branched veins, and long, many-jointed antennae." At the head
are the Borboridte, a family of Muscse Acalypterse.
The Proboscidea comprehend the Orthorhapha and Cyclorhapha ;
the former with two subsections, Nemocera (Tipuloidea with eight
* The name "Proboscidea" as limited by Latreille and Coquillett is
much more extensive than that of Scbiner aud other dipterists.
32 THE ENTOMOLOGIST.
families, and Bibionoidea with five families), and Brachycera (Taban-
oidea with six families, Bombylioidea with three, Asiloidea with five,
and Phoroidea with two families). The Cyclorhapha are divided iuto
two superfamilies, Syrphoidea (with four families) and Muscoidea
(Calypteratse with six, and Acalypterae with nineteen families).
G. W. K.
S. H. ScuDDER. Pink Grasshoppers. (1901 Entomological News, xii.
pp. 129-131, Plate (coloured) vi.)
Many of the Grasshoppers with elongate antennae occur in two
colour-forms, either leaf-green or dead-leaf brown, there being no
structural differences noticeable. Very rarely (less than a dozen
times) they have been found of a delicate violet or pink colour, and
these are considered by Mr. Scudder to be " sports." Two examples
of Ambh/cori/pha oblonyifolia from Massachusetts are figured ; the
female is a delicate coral-red colour, while the male is tinged with
orange. The eyes are green in both. The causes of this remarkable
colouring are quite unknown, and Mr. Scudder's specimens were
healthy and behaved quite normally.
E. D. Ball records under the varietal name oi pccta a pink form of
the green MacropsU latci, Uhler (1900 ' Psyche,' p. 130).
G. W. K.
Among recent papers of general interest may also be mentioned: —
Diptera. — A curious case of gynandromorphism is recorded in
Hilara ivheehri, Melander, from Wyoming, U.S.A. The species of
Hilara mostly exhibit striking sexual dimorphism ; for example, the
first segment of the anterior tarsi is greatly enlarged in the male, but
of normal shape in the female, this character varying considerably
among the various species. The individual in question has the
abdominal styles of the female, but the enlarged legs of the male.
It is remarkable that in the same locality and at the same time a
specimen of Dilophus tibialis, Loew, was taken which possessed an
antenuary appendage arising from the right anterior coxa. (A. L.
Melander in ' Psyche,' 1901, pp. 213-5 ; 2 figs.)
IViynchoUi. — D. von Schlechtendal : Traiii.i troylodi/tes, Heyden, a
singular Aphid (Zeitschr. fiir Entom. vi. pp. 245-55 ; 14 figs.).
Lepidoptera.^G. Schroder : Experiments on the Transference of
Characters in the Larval State, for ex. in Tephroclystia vulyata (t. c,
255-8 ; 2 figs.).
Neiiruptera. — L. Kathariner : On the Biology of Perla maxima,
Scop. (t.c. 258-60; fig.).
Lepidoptera. — C. Obrthiir : Observations upon the Lepidoptera of
the English Fauna (Feuille jeunes naturahstes, pp. 12-17). We pro-
pose to consider this at greater length in our next number.
Lepidoptera. — E. Mory: On some New Swiss Hybrids of the Genus
Deilephila (M. T. Schweiz. Entomol. Gesellsch. x. pp. 333-60; plate).
G. W. K.
Entomologist, February, 1902.
Plate I.
W. J. Lucas, del.
Nymph of Oxygustra curtisii, Dale ( x 4).
a. Labium (mask) flattened out ( x 4).
b. Kegion of moveable joint (much more highly magnified).
THE ENTOMOLOGIST
Vol. XXXV.] FEBRUAEY, 1902. [No. 465.
DRAGONFLIES IN 1901.
By W. J. Lucas, B.A., F.E.S.
Though there is no record of the capture of a new species to
be made for the year 1901, yet in some respects the season was
an interesting one. The earliest imago noted was a male
of Pyrrhosoma nymphula — at the Black Pond, in Surrey, on
April 28th. By May 12th, three or four species were on the wing
at the same place, though even on May 19th such early species as
Calopteryx splendens and P. nymphula were still in the teneral
condition at Send, also in Surrey. But during the summer
weather at Whitsuntide, which fell at the end of May, dragon-
flies were numerous, some ten species being noticed on the wing
in the New Forest during the week-end.
Sympetnim striolatum was, of course, noticed at several new
localities, amongst them being Cumbrae, in Buteshire (A. M.
Stewart) ; Frensham Great Pond, in Surrey (E. B. Bishop and
W. J. Ashdown) ; Pokesdown and Stour side, in Hants ; and
Totness, in Devon. The species was very plentiful on Esher
Common in the autumn, as was also S. scoticum. The latter was
found at Pokesdown, in Hampshire, and a large number, all
practically normal in size and colouring, were received from
Rogart and Lairg, in Sutherlandshire (J. M. Munroe).
Libellula depressa was common and mature in the New Forest
between May 25th and 28th. It was found in several districts in
Yorkshire (G. T. Porritt) ; and near Bedford (R. W. Thompson).
L. quadrimaculata was first seen at the Black Pond on May 12th ;
on June 9th it was in considerable numbers there, and a var.
prcenuhila was taken ; it was still about on July 8th. It was found
at Frensham Great Pond, Surrey (E. B. Bishop) ; Mr. C. A. Briggs
received some specimens from Mr. McArthur, taken at Stornoway,
in Lewis ; and Mr. A. M. Stewart sent me one taken by Mr. Duns-
more in July in the island of Arran (Scotland). British odonatists
ENTOM. — FEBRUARY, 1902. D
34 THE ENTOMOLOGIST.
will be pleased to hear that the capture of four more specimens of
L.fulva may be added to the very short British list — three females
and one male — all taken in 1900 and 1901 between Bournemouth
and the New Forest. The captures were made by Major Robert-
son, who works so assiduously the insects of Dorset and Hants.
The male had not obtained its blue colouring, one of the females
was very immature, and one at least had the black tip to the wings.
Ortlietrum ccerulescens was seen in the New Forest, sparingly
and in teneral condition, between May 27th and 28th ; it was
very common there as usual in August. 0. cancellatum was found
on July 7th at Frensham Great Pond, in Surrey, by Messrs. E. B.
Bishop and W. J. Ashdown.
Perhaps the most important feature of the season was the
taking of Oxygastra curtisii by Major Robertson in the old
locality near Christchurch, in Hampshire. But one capture was
made, and in fact, though several visits were made to the locality,
only a few specimens in all were seen. On one occasion the net
was successfully placed over a female, but she managed to escape.
The single specimen taken was given to me, and is a male in
perfect condition. The last previous capture of the species was
in 1882, when four males were taken. Two visits paid by myself
to the locality, on July 31st and on August 7th, failed to reveal
its presence, and we must conclude that the insect is over by'
that date. The spot where 0. curtisii occurs is not its breeding
ground clearly, and the question arises, where is the nymph-
stage passed ? A drainage-pond near at hand, which apparently
disappears in dry weather, cannot be the place, and a little
stream, which at times is found connected with the pond, seems
equally out of the question. The probability is that the species
breeds in the Stour, a clear, swift stream, often deep, running
over pebbles and gravel, about a quarter of a mile away. By the
kindness of a French naturalist, M. Rene Martin, of Le Blanc
(Indre), I am able to give a description and figure (PI. 1) of the
nymph of 0. curtisii, made from empty cases which he sent to
me, and which were obtained from river-banks in the centre of
France. The skins received were not in very good condition,
and the species in the nymph-stage being hairy and rugose, the
skins were covered with earthy matter which was not easily
removed. It is likely, also, that many hairs and bristles were
broken off. When living specimens come to hand, it may be
found necessary to modify the description a little, especially with
regard to the thorax, and possible also the figure may need a little
amending where the skin was ruptured by the emergence of the
imago. Description : Length, from front of face to end^of appen-
dages, 21*5 mm. ; greatest ividth of abdomen, about 9 mm. Colour,
a more or less uniform dark brown. Head, transversely 6 mm.,
somewhat less longitudinally; pentangular; surface chiefly rugose,
except a few smooth patches, notably three on occiput ; a ridge
DRAGONFLIES IN 1901. 3^
of hairs between antennae, a tuft on the vertex, and two tufts
containmg some very long hairs (or bristles) on occiput ; hind
margin of occiput concave. Eyes small, bluntly conical (nearly
spherical) at front lateral corners of head. Antenncs 7-jointed ;
basal two short and swollen; next three rather longer, more
slender, and each with a long hair ; distal two longer and quite
slender, possibly having had a whorl of hairs at one time ; length
of anteuucie about 4 mm. Mask (PL I. a) large, deeply spoon-
shaped, covering the face, and reaching back to the insertion of
the mid-legs; mediam lobe obtusely pointed with slopes slightly
concave ; lateral lobes with outer lateral margin slightly concave,
inner lateral margin convex, distal margin finely crenated and
divided into eight teeth, each bearing spines, on some teeth as
many as six in number (PL I. h) ; moveable joint rather short,
blunt* ; mental setfe, eleven in each comb ; lateral setfB, about
seven on each side (eight in one case). Prothorax narrow, pro-
duced laterally into a point on each side bearing a few long stiff
bristles. Pleura rugose, with a few long stiff bristles. Wings
rough, with scattered long stiff bristles like those on pleura.
Legs, fore about 105 mm. long, mid about 15 mm., hind about
18 mm. ; hairy except, apparently, femora of mid and hind pairs,
which, however, are rough ; they all bear a number of long,
scattered, stiff' bristles (many broken off) ; the femora with a
couple of dark bands. Abdomen very rugose ; stiff hairs along
the distal margin of the segments, these being longer in the mid-
dorsal line ; one or two still longer stiff bristles among the rest
on most of the segmental margins ; a slightly lighter mid-dorsal
line, the colour being a little darker on each side of it ; lateral
margins hairy, especially in tufts near the front and back of each
edge of the segment, on segment nine the marginal hairs much
longer ; lateral hooks on segments eight and nine, those on nine
being much the longer ; no dorsal hooks. Appendages rough,
pointed, hind ones a little longer than dorsal one, laterals rather
more than half hind ones.
Gomphus vulgatissimus was found fairly numerous between
25th and 28th May by one of the streams in the New Forest ; but
specimens were as a rule not very easily taken. They were at that
date rather immature, and were generally seen settled upon, or
flying round, some of the larger bushes and small trees. Near
Oxford, Messrs. A. H. Hamm and W. Holland found the range of
this insect to be rather more extended than previously.
Cordidegaster anmdatus was common in some parts of the
New Forest in August, and on the 3rd of that month a female
was watched as she was ovipositing in BLickwater stream by
dipping the tip of her abdomen rather forcibly, but apparently
'''■ Possibly the points may have been broken off in specimens mounted
for microscopical examination ; but all were alike.
D 2
86
THE ENTOMOLOGIST.
quite at random, into the water — in one place amongst loose
gravel-stones, where practically no water remained. On August
7th, one was taken near the Stour, at Pokesdown. Mr. G. T.
Porritt reports the species from Yorkshire.
Dr. F. A. Walker reports a female Anax imperator, taken on
Hampstead Heath on May 11th. On June 9th the species was
common at the Black Pond as usual. On June 26th, one female
at least was watched ovipositing at Byfleet Canal on a large
Potamogeton, sometimes in the leaf- stalk, at others in the leaf
itself, apparently. Messrs. Bishop and Ashdown saw the insect,
on July 7th, hovering over Frensham Great Pond.
Brachytron pr'atense. In the spring a number of nymphs
were procured by Messrs. F. Enock, S. W. Kemp, and myself at
the Byfleet Canal, in Surrey, and at the Black Pond ; and, later,
Mr. Enock bred a fair quantity. When dredged up on a rotting
piece of dead bulrush or sedge, their resemblance to it in form
and colour is perfect, and the position taken up is well adapted
either to enable them to lurk unseen for their unsuspecting^-prey,
or to conceal their presence from some dangerous enemy. The
habit they have of remaining perfectly inactive when taken or
touched assists also in the same direction. Imagines were com-
mon at Byfleet Canal on June 1, and on June 16th I took a female
at rest at the Black Pond — still another new record for that
prolific locality.
Alischna mixta has again been comparatively common in the
South of England, possibly in consequence of an immigration,
though personally I think not. The species was again quite
numerous at the Black Pond in September. It was noticed
singly at several places in the New Forest in August — a female
near Einefield on August 5th, a male at Denney Bog on August
10th (A. B. Higgs), a female at Lady Cross on August 13th, a
male near Beaulieu Gate on August 15th. In Epping Forest a
female was taken on September 12th (F. W. Campion), and a
male on 20th September (H. Campion), both near Chingford. A
male (12th August) was sent to me from the golf-links at Deal
(R. J. McOnie). ^E. juncea did not come across my path once
during the season, but Mr. A. M. Stewart reports it from near
Paisley, in Renfrewshire, and Mr. C. A. Briggs received the species
through Mr. McArthur from Stornoway. Of the common sj)ecie8,
y©. cyanea and JE. grandis, it is scarcely necessary to speak, ex-
cept to say that the latter seemed to be specially common in one
or two places. Possibly other collectors may have noticed the
same thing. M. cyanea was taken (A. B. Higgs) in the New
Forest, and near Bedford (R. W. Thompson), both new records.
Calopteryx virgo was taken at Tubney Wood, in Berks (W.
Holland), on June 2nd. It was a brown male, and if mature, as
it appeared to be, was var. anceps. On August 5th I noticed one
in the New Forest which had a very peculiar appearance as it
DRAGONFLIES IN 1901. 37
flew, and, a capture being made, it was found that part of one of
the wings was quite bleached. Major Eobertson shewed me a
specimen of C. splendens, taken at Holmslea, in the New Forest.
The species has not, I beheve, been previously noted for the
Forest. On June 9th, three or four specimens were seen at the
Black Pond, one apparently being a female ; they no doubt had
migrated thither from the river Mole.
Lestes sponsa was reported from Eenfrewshire, near Paisley
(A. M. Stewart). The presence of Platycnemis pennipes was
noticed near Byfleet station ; previously it had only been noticed
much nearer Weybridge. On July 24th the same interesting species
was found, by no means singly, at the Black Pond (R. South) ;
but one specimen had previously been recorded for that locality.
One specimen, at least, was seen in the New Forest, between May
25th and 28th, the previous earliest I had noted being June 6th.
Pyrrliosoma nymphula has to be recorded from Renfrewshire,
near Paisley (A. M. Stewart), while Mr. C. A. Briggs has received
some Stornoway specimens from Mr. McArthur. P. tenellum
was, as usual, common in August in the New Forest, where a
female of var. rubratum was taken on August 10th (S. W. Kemp),
and two females, intermediate between the type and var. ceneatum,
on July 28th and August 5th.
Ischnura pumilio was beginning to appear on May 27th in
the New Forest, and it is possible that it was not uncommon
somewhat later, but not one could be seen by the end of July.
On May 27th and 28th they were found chiefly on swampy
ground, amongst bog-myrtle, and some circumstances seem to
point to the fact that they may possibly breed in this swampy
ground rather than actually in the streams or pools. All but one
of the females I have taken belong more or less pronouncedly to
var. aiirantiaca. I. elegans was taken at Stornoway by Mr.
McArthur for Mr. Briggs ; the specimens, three males and one
female, were rather small. Mr. A. M. Stewart took the species
near Paisley, in Renfrewshire. Messrs. Bishop and Ashdown
captured it on July 7th at Frensham Great Pond, while Mr. South
found it not uncommon, on July 24th, in one corner of the Black
Pond, single specimens only having been noticed there before.
The orange var. rufescens, Steph., was taken at Byfleet Canal on
June 1st and 26th.
Agrion pulchellum waa taken on June 5th, near Oxford (W.
Holland), thus adding a new locality to the rather meagre list for
this pretty dragonfly. The capture of a male, with the U-shaped
spot on the second segment detached from the circlet, has already
been noted in this magazine (Entom. xxxiv. p. 215). A. puella
was taken in Renfrewshire, near Paisley, by Mr. Stewart, and a
male was taken, presumably in Epping Forest, in which there
was a median black line, converting the typical U-shaped spot on
the second segment into a trident (H. and F. W. Campion). Both
38 THE ENTOMOLOGIST.
sexes of A. mercuriale were taken in the New Forest between
May 25th and 28th, and the species was still on the wing in the
beginning of August. Mr. Stewart took Enallagma cyathigerum
in Eenfrewshire, near Paisley, and Messrs. Ashdown and Bishop
captured it, on July 7th, at Frensham Great Pond. Mr. McArthur
captured for Mr. Briggs twenty-four specimens at Stornoway —
twenty males and four females. The specimens were of good size,
and in most cases the spot on the second segment was large — in
one or two cases similar in shape to that on the specimen figured
in the Ent. Mo. Mag. for 1890, p. 110. On June 26th, at Byfleet
Canal, I noticed a pair united per collum, and settled upon a leaf
of Potamogeton, in which the female seemed to be ovipositing
without going below the surface of the water.
DESCRIPTION OF A NEW SPECIES OP GALL-MAKING
CYNIPIDiE FROM THE N.W. HIMALAYAS.
By p. Cameron,
Callirhytis SEMiCARPiroLiiE, sp. nov.
Ferrugineous ; the antennae, except the basal two joints, the head,
the greater part of the middle lobe of the mesonotum, the scutellum,
median segment, the pro- and mesopleurse, except above and the back
of the abdomen, black; the legs lighter coloured than the body, with
the tarsi and hinder tibife darker ; the wings clear hyaline, the nervures
blackish, the cubitus paler. J . Long. 2-5 mm.
Hah. North-West Himalayas.
Antennae bare, as long as the body. Head shining, finely acicu-
lated, bare. Except at the base, the middle lobe of the mesonotum is
rather strongly transversely striated ; the lateral lobes are minutely,
obscurely punctured. The parapsidal furrows are complete. Scutellum
irregularly punctured, its sides at the base are bordered by shining,
smooth furrows ; in the middle at the base are two narrow, longish
fove^e. The scutellum is roundly convex, and is not much raised
above the level of the mesonotum. On the base of the median seg-
ment is a smooth, shining semicircular broad keel, which is not quite
so broad in the middle as on the sides. The upper edge of the pro-
pleurge and the mesopleurse at the base above are rufo-testaceous.
The median segment bears a thick, white pile. Abdomen smooth and
shining ; the base and ventral surface are broadly black. The legs
have a microscopic white pile. Wings long and narrow, clear hyaline ;
the transverse cubital nervures and the cubitus are paler than the
others. The areolet is completely closed, slightly oblique, and
triangular.
The third joint of the antennae is not much longer than the fourth ;
the tarsal claws are unidentate ; the antennae are slender and do not
become thickened towards the apex ; the radial cellule is long and
narrow and is not quite closed at the base, the nervure being faint
TO PRESERVE COLOUR IN RELAXING SPECIMENS. 39
towards the costa ; the median segment is hollowed at the base below
the curved keel and, in the centre of this part are three not very
distinct, short, stout longitudinal keels.
This species was reared from an acorn collected by Mr. E. P.
Stabbing from Quercus semicarpifolia in North-West Himalayas.
It agrees better with Callirhytis than with Andricus. One of
the European species of Callirhytis galls acorns. The Indian
oak-galls are quite unknown ; and there must be a splendid field
for any naturalist who would undertake their investigation. The
type of the species here described is in the British Museum.
ON METHODS USED TO PRESERVE COLOUR IN
RELAXING ENTOMOLOGICAL SPECIMENS.
By Colonel J. G. Pilcher, F.R.C.S.
Like most of my fellow-workers in Entomology, my attention
was early called to the invariably altered colour of nearly all the
blue and green moths submitted to moisture in the relaxing-box ;
no specimen wholly retained its primitive colour, but became
more or less yellowed in the process of relaxing.
The only exception to this rule were the fresh specimens
which it has been my custom to put into a moist atmosphere
until the rigor mortis had passed, when they were entirely
freed from all rigidity, and yielded therefore more readily to the
touch of the needle than if they had been pinned and allowed to
partially dry before they are mounted. In passing I would note
the very great help this method has afforded in dealing with all
fresh forms, but especially with the small muscular Noctuidse.
In fresh specimens discoloration was not so frequent, though it
occasionally did take place in fresh specimens submitted to a
moist atmosphere for only a few hours.
The thought occurred to me in 1889 that the cause of dis-
coloration was free ammonia, due to the decomposition which
must be presumed to begin in the killing-bottle, and is renewed
with greater energy when many dried specimens are put into
the relaxing-box at one time. And even before the alkali has
tainted the atmosphere of the relaxing-box it would have been
conducted to all parts of the specimen by its nervures and their
branches.
A volatile acid suggested itself as a fit antagonist to the
ammonia, and carbolic acid seemed specially suitable, but its
vapour was apparently not diffusive enough, nor did it neutralize
the ammonia as produced.
Glacial acetic acid was found to answer best. I placed a
small capsule or measure-glass of this acid in the relaxing-box —
40 THE ENTOMOLOGIST.
60-90 drops as a charge — and renewed it as it evaporated, and
this method I have used for many years.
The relaxing-box or vessel which appears to afford advan-
tages above all others is a glass cylinder, covered with a round
disk of glass ground to fit accurately. Into this cylinder is
placed a tripod of glass, to hold the clock-glass upon which the
specimens are to rest. Distilled water to the depth of half an
inch is put into the cylinder. The latter is then placed over a
Bunsen's burner, with wire gauze over it, and the water allowed
to boil for five minutes or more. On allowing the vessel to cool,
a partial vacuum is produced, and the cover must be removed
with care some hours afterwards, when the specimens to be
relaxed and the acetic acid are then inserted.
The vessel cannot remain completely sterilized because of the
frequent movement of specimens to and from it, but heat can be
applied from time to time, and it can be kept, as free as possible,
from those spores which do germinate with marvellous rapidity
in the saturated atmosphere of the relaxing-box.
The requisites for this relaxing-chamber can be procured for
a few shillings from Messrs. J. J. Griffin & Sons, 20, Sardinia
Street, Lincoln's Inn Fields, W.C.
A casual remark by Sir Geo. Hampson on the loss of colour
of specimens in the relaxing-box led to an explanation as to the
method I adopted, which he has been good enough to test for
several months in the Natural History Museum, and with such
satisfactory results that he encouraged me to make a note of the
method for the benefit of fellow-workers.
These notes are the reply to his request, which it gives me
great pleasure to send to him.
5, Stanley Crescent, W. : 16 Jan., 1902.
DESCRIPTIONS OF THEEE NEW BUTTERFLIES FROM
EAST AFRICA.
By Emily Mary Sharpe.
ACR^A BAXTERI, Sp. U.
Closely allied to A. insignis, Distant, but is at once dis-
tinguished by the clear transparent band on the apical area of
the fore wing.
Primaries. Basal half ferruginous red, the outline irregular
where it joins the dusky brown terminal portion of the wing ; a
transverse line of three transparent spots, situated above the third
median nervule, and between the first and second radial nervules, thus
relieving the apical area of the wing. Costa dusky brown, the ex-
treme base with black streaks, one of the latter extending for a little
THKEE NEW BUTTERFLIES FROM EAST AFRICA. 41
way along the inner margin. Secondaries. The entire diseal area
ferruginous, the basal half decidedly black, faintly suffused with
ferruginous towards the costal margin ; the hind margin narrowly
lined with brownish black ; the veins on both wings blackish. Under
side. Primaries similar to those of A. insiguis, but showing the trans-
parent band, and with the general colour somewhat lighter. Second-
aries more sombre in colour than in the allied form ; the diseal area
greyish white, relieved by the black nervules, the hind margin having
deep chestnut-brown spots between the nervules ; the basal area
chestnut-brown, thickly spotted with heavy black dots, a distinct
line of these spots outlining the outer edge of the basal half of the
wing. Expanse, 2*1 in.
Hob. Mpapwa, German East Africa (Dr. J. W. Baxter).
ACR^A OCHRASCENS, Sp. 11.
Similar to the species of the A.serena group, but distinguished
by the pale yellow ground colour of the wings.
Primaries. General colour pale ochre-yellow, the brown spots and
markings agreeing with those of A. serena, Fabr., but somewhat lighter
in colour ; the hind marginal border relieved by six small spots of pale
ochre, tinged with deeper yellow. Secondaries. Ground colour pale
ochre-yellow ; the brown hind margiu with the lighter dots similar to
those of the primaries ; basal area dusky brown ; a faint black streak
visible at the end of the cell. Under side. Primaries pale yellow,
slightly darker in colour on the hind margin ; the light nervules
heavily streaked with black on the marginal area ; the usual black
mark at the end of the cell much reduced in size. Secondaries :
Ground colour pale yellow, with the usual black and red spots on the
basal area ; the hind marginal border consisting of spear-shaped
marks outlined with black, the usual light nervules having black
streaks down the centres ; between each of these hastate marks are
distinct spots of ferruginous red ; this submargiual border broadest
near the costa and towards the anal angle ; on the extreme edge of the
marginal border a row of light yellow spots, but slightly smaller than
in A. serena. Expanse, 1"1 in.
Hah. Entebbe, Uganda, March to May, 1895 (F. J. Jack-
son coll.).
Elymnias rattrayi, sp. n.
Similar to E. phegea, Fabr., in colour, but easily distinguished
by the white band on the secondaries. The female closely re-
sembles E. hammakoo, Westw., but the white mark on the
primaries is larger, and the white streak on the inner margin is
only faintly indicated, while the white band on the secondaries
is almost obsolete.
(?. Primaries. Ground colour of the primaries brown, crossed
near the apical area by a broad transverse band of bright yellow,
extending a little below the first median nervule ; an ovate spot of
yellow near the posterior angle, and almost connected to the conspicu-
ous yellow baud by a faint suffusion of yellow. Secondaries. A broad
42 THE ENTOMOLOGIST.
border of brown along the hind margin, this colour again represented
on the basal area, with a distinct white baud crossing the centre of
the wing, and becoming narrower towards the costal margin. Under
side. Basal area of the primaries brown, with fine wavy lines of white
in the discoidal cell ; the yellow band distinctly indicated, and extend-
ing to the hind margin between the first and second median nervules ;
the apical area lighter brown, thickly covered with wavy lines of
brownish white. Basal area and costal margin of the secondaries deep
reddish brown, relieved by five lines of black, somewhat disconnected
towards the extreme base ; the white band streaked on the inner margin
with brown ; the broad hind marginal border of brown thickly traversed
by innumerable wavy lines of brownish white. Expanse, 8 in.
? . Primaries. General colour brown, relieved by a large white
band near the apical area, extending just over the first median nervule ;
a faint streak of white visible near the centre of the inner margin.
Secotidaries. Ground colour brown, with an almost obsolete band of
greyish white crossing the central area of the wing ; this colour most
strongly pronounced towards the inner margin. Under side. Primaries
similar to those of the male, with the exception that the white band
is replaced by a yellow one ; between the first and second median ner-
vules are two tawny yellow spots. Secondaries not different in colour
and markings from those of the male above described. Expanse,
3-1 in.
Hah. Entebbe, Uganda, June, 1900 {Capt. H. B. Rattray).
NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS.
GoRDius IN A Butterfly. — In the 'Entomologist,' vol. xxv. (1892),
p. 247 and 291, is a notice of a hair-worm emerging from a butterfly.
I have met with a precisely similar case. A specimen of Erebia
enryale, female, taken at Mendel (Tyrol) in 1895, presents, on being
taken out of paper, two ends (of one or two worms '?) of Gordins pro-
jecting from the cephalo-thoracic joint ; they are brown, coiled, and
shrivelled, but, even so, are each between a half and three-quarters of
an inch long, and would probably be about one inch and one and a half
inch respectively, if straightened out. One often meets with these
worms emerging from larvas, especially in some seasons, but they are
decidedly rarer in imagines. These two cases are curiously parallel in
both being Satyrids, in the worm emerging at the same point, and in
their giving no evidence of their existence at the time the insect was
captured. The interest 'of these specimens is chiefly in their being
exceptions to the almost invariable rule, that parasites in the Lepido-
ptera destroy their hosts before they reach the imaginal stage. — T. A.
Chapman ; Betula, Eeigate, January, 1902.
NoTODONTA DRYiNOPA, Lower. — It has already been shown how the
large Anthereae cut out of their hard and tough cocoons [ante, p. 10).
I now have pleasure in furnishing notes upon the above insect, which
also constructs a hard but more breakable cocoon. These cocoons are
formed mostly of small fragments of bark and wood, bitten out of the
NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS. 43
surface around which the cocoou is constructed. Upon examining a
cocoon, a piece will be found to have been removed for the escape of
the moth ; this piece is not broken out, but is cut or pierced out, the
fragment usually falling back into its place when the moth emerges.
I have not observed the insect removing this roundish piece, but as I
cannot detect any special instrument in the moth, there can be only
one explanation as to the manner in which it is cut out, i. e. that it is
done by the chrysalis, for the remarkable spike with which it is
provided can be for no other purpose than for piercing the cocoon ;
this instrument is really double, though it looks like one piece. It is
certainly extraordinary how the chrysalis, which is shorter than the
cocoon, can expand sufficiently to be enabled to bring this spike to
work upon the upper end of the cocoon. All the " Zeuzeridte "
pupffi are provided with stout but blunt "beaks," each species different,
with which they break or push out, whole, the strong and thick wad
which encloses them in their bores ; they then work halfway out of
their bores before they split open their shells, and the moths crawl
out; but this sharp-spiked pupa is altogether strange in my expe-
riences. I regard it as extremely probable that many other of our
Bombycidffi, which construct hard cocoons, are provided in the pupal
state with special cutting or breaking instruments. Several of the
" Xyloryctidfe " (Tineidae) are provided with extraordinary head-pieces
to enable them to get through the thick " felt "-like constructions
with which they securely fasten themselves in their chambers. This
by the way, Eeverting to our Notodonta, it may be noticed that the
larva is a queer-looking creature, with its flat and widened out tail-
segments ; this ta,il is turned over the larva's back when it rests; it
is veined, and so formed as to present a striking resemblance to a
young leaf of the tree [Tertninalia, sp. ?)upon which it feeds. The full-
grown larva is dull green, head nearly black ; very small caterpillars
are coffee-brown ; they all have the raised, flattened-out "tail," which,
however, is lowered during progression. — F. P. Dodd ; Warburton
Street, Townsville, Queensland.
Note on a Habit of Cyaniris (Lyc^ena) argiolus. — (J. artjiolus was
very comm.ou in this neighbourhood last year, and I noticed a curious
habit of the imago wliich I have not observed in other butterflies.
The insect, while sitting on a leaf or flower, will move the lower
wings — not spreading them out as in flight, but vertically up and
down, like a lever works. I believe I have seen both male and female
moving the lower wings in this manner. — Alfred Sigh ; 65, Barrow-
gate Koad, Chiswick, Jan. 6th, 1902.
AcHERONTiA ATROPos IN WESTMORELAND. — This specics lias been again
present in our district during the year 1901, upwards of a dozen larvae
and pupfe having been found in difi'erent parts, and four of these have
fallen to my lot. No. 1 pupated Aug. 20tli ; emerged Oct. 6th.
No. 2 pupated Sept. 21st ; emerged Nov. 19th. No. 3 pupated Sept.
21st; not yet emerged. No. 4 (pupa) put to force Nov. 23rd;
emerged Jan. 10th, 1902. The first three were received as unearthed
larvae, and turned almost immediately. Ten days after pupation they
were laid on dry soil, and put to force in an absolutely dry atmosphere
of seventy to eighty degrees, not allowed even atmospheric moisture.
44 THE ENTOMOLOGIST.
which hitherto I have considered a necessity. Nos. 1 and 2 would
have emerged, I believe, without forcing, only a little later than the
dates given. No. 4 changed to a dark colour on Dec. 20th, and as it
lost weight considerably, I believed it to be dying. It proved, how-
ever, to be a case of slow development, for on Jan. 10th this year, a
fine moth emerged. No. 3 is still healthy, but unchanged in colour.
Both these latter would, I suppose, in a natural way, have "gone over"
till June this year. The experiment of keeping the pupse dry during
forcing, although as yet not sufficiently extensive to be regarded as
conclusive, still leads me to think that with this species a system of
forcing, allowing absolute dryness or at most slight atmospheric
moisture, offers the best prospect of success. There is no doubt that
specimens which naturally would emerge the same year will often do
so in spite of excessive moisture, but there is a risk, I think, in
applying this treatment to pupa; which would ordinarily " lie over,"
and in the case of the former, if moisture is not really necessary to
their successful emergence, there is little use being at the trouble of
providing it. — Frank Littlewood ; Lynn Garth, Kendal, Westmore-
land, Jan. 12th, 1902.
Chcerocampa celerio. — In April, ova, and larvfe in various stages
of growth, were to be found freely upon a fleshy-leaved and spreading
weed. I took a number of the larger larvae, leaving any uuder an inch
in length, and noticed, particularly in the larger specimens, small
marks or scars upon their backs, and feared they were caused by para-
sites ; however, they fed up and attained full growth, some spinning
the pupal web, .but not a single example changed ; all sickened and
died, and produced maggots of a rather large grey dipteron. A fresh
lot of smaller larvae was selected, care being taken that all with any
discernible marks were rejected ; still many proved to be stung, and
several healthy pupa only resulted. As the ova depositing continued
during May, and even into June and July, I obtained as many of the
moths as I desired, emergence taking place about three weeks after
pupation, several having appeared this month. It may be mentioned
that June and July are our coldest months ; further, that this locality
is in a dry belt of country, and that to find a hawk-moth in all its
stages at such a time is very unusual, the early emergence being
interesting from the fact that the weather is cold, and Lepidoptera can
scarcely be met with. The most interesting point concerning celerio
now in my possession is that fully half of the moths have emerged
between eight a.m. and ten a.m., the others appearing during the
evening, but they are very sluggish, and can safely be left all day or
night, even longer. No doubt they would soon become lively if placed
in the sun , the shade temperature here seldom being so low as seventy
at midday. In Brisbane district Sphinx casuarincE larvas may be freely
found in May and June, but the moths do not appear for several
months. Altogether I examined scores, even hundreds, of celerio
larvEe, but I failed to discover a single specimen of any size with-
out the tell-tale parasitic marks. — F. P. Dodd ; Warburton Street,
Townsville, Queensland.
Two Notes on Cyaniris argiolus. — On May 10th, 1901, I noticed a
female of this species fluttering round a rhododendron in my garden
CAPTURES AND FIELD REPORTS. 45
here, and on closer examination I saw her deposit an egg on one of
the unespanded flower-buds. This rhododendron, of which the flowers
are white sHghtly flushed with pink, is named " purity." During
the first week in July I beat some fifty argiolus larvae off holly at
Danbury. They were of all sizes. I had never obtained many wild
larvsB of this species before, and was surprised to find how many pro-
duced ichneumons. — (Kev.) Gilbert H. Eaynor ; Hazeleigh Kectory,
Maldon, Essex, Jan. 8th, 1902.
Emergence of Melanippe galiata in December. — In the autumn of
last year I fed up a couple of batches of M. galiata, one of which
pupated between Sept. 21st and 25th, and it was a surprise to me, on
examining the cage in which they were kept, to find six freshly
emerged imagines on the morning of Dec. 8th. The cage in which
the larvffi were fed up, and in which the pupje remained, had through-
out the whole time been protected from rain and the direct sunshine,
but otherwise fully exposed to the weather. The 8th was a particu-
larly mild day, with a fresh south-west breeze, and warm rain-showers,
the shade-temperature reaching 55 degrees, while the minimum of the
preceding night had not fallen below 52 degrees. — Robt. Adkin ;
Lewisham, December, 1901.
The Entomological Club. — A meeting of this ancient Club was
held at the Holborn Restaurant on June 14th last, on the invitation
of the host of the evening, Mr. G. H. Verrall. The reception was
held in the Entomological Salon, and the guests and members of the
Club commenced to arrive soon after 6.30 p.m. By 8 o'clock there
was quite a large assemblage of notables in the entomological world.
Several only paid a short visit, but nearly seventy sat down to a most
recherche supper, which was served about 9 o'clock. Mr. Verrall, in
proposing the toast of the evening — " The prosperity of the Entomo-
logical Club " — very properly embraced the opportunity afforded by
the occasion to refer at some length to the ballot that was to take
place in another place on the following evening. His remarks on this
head were thoroughly impartial in character, but at the same time
very much to the purpose. Further reference to the oration cannot
be made, however, without infringing the privileges of a guest, or
abusing the hospitality of the host.
The pleasure of the evening was again contributed to by Mr. M.
Jacoby, who, accompanied by his son on the piano, enchanted the
company by his delightful performance on the violin.
CAPTURES AND FIELD REPORTS.
Notes from East Suffolk, 1901. — The list of insects appended
below, and taken here during the last season, may possibly be of
interest, a few of the species at any rate being, I believe, somewhat
rare or local in this county. The earlier summer months were
certainly very productive of insect life ; but it has been a peculiar
season, and I have been disappointed in the non-occurrence of many
autumn insects ; ivy, as far as my experience goes, has been very
unremunerative.
46 THE ENTOMOLOGIST.
Insects taken at sugar were as follows : —
Thijatira derasa, T. hatis, Cyiiiatophora ocularis, Acronycta jjsi, A.
leporina (one), Leucania conigera, L. litltargyria, L. comma, L. impura,
L. pallcns (four beautiful dark-red varieties), Hydrcecia nictitans (some
nice varieties), H. micacea, Aa-ylia putris, Xylophasiarnrea, X. litlwxylea,
X. polyodon, X. hcpatica, Dipteryyia pinastri, Neuria saponaria (abun-
dant both at sugar and lilac bloom), Ceriyo cytherea, Mamestra ahjecta,
M. anceps (abundant), M. hrassicce, M. persicaricB, Apahiea basilinea, A.
yemina (var. remissa and many nice forms), A. fibrosa (both varieties),
A. oculea, Minna strigilis, M. fasciuncula, M. furuncida, Grammesia tri-
linea, Caradrina morpheus, C. blanda, C, cubicidaris, Puusina tenebrosa,
Ayrotis valliyera (one), A. puta, A. suffusa (June brood), A. seyetum, A.
exclamationis, A. corticea, A. nigricans, A. tritici, A. aquilina, Triphana
ianthina, T. interjecta (especially fond of sugared tansy), 2\ orbona, T.
pronuba, Noctaa auynr, N. plecta, N. c-niyrum, N. triangulum, N. rhom-
boidea (one), X, brannea (one), N. /estiva, N. rnbi, N. ambrosa N.xantho-
yrapha, Tmiiocampa gothica, T. instabilis, T. stabilis, T. munda, T. cruda,
Orthosia lota, 0. macilenta, Atichochelis pistacina, A. lunosa, A. litura,
Cerastis vaccinii, C spadicea, Scopelosoma satdlitia, Xantlda gilvago,
X. ferruginea, Cosmia trapezina, C. a^ffinis, Hecatera serena (one), Miselia
oryacanthiE, Pldoyoplwra vieticulosa, Euplexia lucipara, Aplecta iiebidosa,
A. adrena (very plentiful), Hadena protea, H. dentina, H. chenopodii
(specimens kept appearing from the early part of June to quite the end
of August), H. suasa, H. oleracea, H. thalassina, H yenistcc, Xylina
rhizolitha, Gonoptera libatrix, Ampkipyra pyranddea, A. tragopogonis,
Mania typica, M. maura, Catocala nupta. A small number of Geo-
metry and Micros also appeared.
My illuminated moth -trap added a few species, but on the whole I
did not find light very attractive, possibly because I did not hit upon
the right place to set my trap. Ccriyo cythera seems to have a special
penchant for light, more so than for sugar, and came in numbers ; and,
amongst others, I may mention Nola confusalis, Lnphopteryx camelina,
Cilix ylaucata, Charcias yraminis, Calamia liitosa, Epione apiciaria,
Selenia lunaria, Odontopera bidentata, Himera pennaria, Acidalia bi-
setata, A. trigeyninata (this insect also comes freely to sugar), A. rubiyi-
nata {lubricata), A. emarginata, A. proinutata, &c. From reed-beds at
dusk, in addition to some of the Leucaniidse already noted, Lencania
straminea (a few), Calamia phragmitidis (in some plenty), Nonagria
neurica (one), together with examples of Chilo pliragmitclhis, were
secured. The reed-beds were only worked at dusk, three rather windy
nights during the second v/eek in August. AspUates citraria was
plentiful in a clover-field, and many other Geometra? were met with
on the wing at dusk. I took a few Micros, but was unable to devote
much time to them. Spldnx conrolndi appeared on August 15th, and
September brought quite an army of them, but for the most part in
bad condition, until the first week in October, when there seemed to
be a fresh emergence and I took five or six perfect specimens. My
experience in this respect seems to tally with that of Mr. J. H.
Fowler [vide Entom. Nov. 1901, p. 321). Larvae and pupje of Acherontia
atropos have not been uncommon. All the Noctu^ mentioned as
taken at sugar occurred within a very small area, comprising some
two and a half acres of cultivated garden-land and pasture, with a
CAPTURES AND FIELD REPORTS. 47
small copse, mainly composed of oak, ash and elm, adjoining, and
situated about a quarter of a mile or less from some salt marshes bor-
dering the river Deben.
I would like to remark upon the attractions of lilac and arbutus.
The former was a great bait for Neuria saponarm and Diantluecia cap-
sincola, not to speak of many others. Tiie charms of arbutus, too,
seem great. Happening to notice bees and wasps and other insects
swarming around its blossoms by day, I suspected it might prove
equally attractive to motlis at night, and I was not deceived, for
though I found only common species, the number of these afforded by
a large shrub of arbutus in full bloom compared very favourably with
what I saw on the same nights at ivy, the latter being also fully out in
the near vicinity. I may add, sugared flowers upon many occasions
added to the bag, when tree-trunks and posts were entirely unproductive.
(Eev.) A. P. Waller; Hemley Rectory, Woodbridge, Nov. 21st, 1901.
LEPmopTERA AT WiTHERSLACK. — Two days, July 7th and 8th, on the
well-known Witherslack Mosses proved very successful. A very fine
and long series of Hyria anroraria (all of the dark purple form) were
secured ; one or two worn females laid a small batch of ova, and I have
succeeded in rearing half a dozen moths ; these emerged on January
2nd this year. Nemeophila russiila was also exceptionally abundant, a
grand lot of females being taken ; I obtained a quantity of ova of this
species also, and was successful in rearing a very complete second brood,
not more than three out of about sixty-six refusing to feed up, thirty-three
females and twenty-seven males being bred the last week in September.
C(ciio)njmpha davas was over, only a few worn ones being seen. Acidcdia
fumata was also over, although a few nice females were secured, after
much picking. Eupithecia nanata was fairly common and in fine con-
dition ; whilst Lasiocampja [Bomb>jx) quercus di&shedi about at a terrific pace.
Lijcmia agon males were m evidence, but no females were observed. —
C. P. Johnson ; Brenuington Crescent, Stockport, Jan. 22nd, 1902.
SOCIETIES.
Entomological Society of London. — December Qth, 1901. — The
Rev. Canon Fowler, M.A., F.L.S., President, in the chair. — Mr.
Frederick E. S. Adair, Flixton Hall, Bungay ; Mr. William Anning,
Box Hill, Surrey, and 39, Lime Street, London, E.C. ; Mr. Edward
Connold, 7, Magdalen Terrace, St. Leonards-on-Sea ; Mr. Frederick
Muir, 86, Christchurch Street, Ipswich ; Mr. R. Shelford, The
Museum, Sarawak, Borneo ; and Mr. John Waddington, 38, Leicester
Grove, Blackmail Lane, Leeds, were elected Fellows of the Society. —
Mr. J. H. Carpenter exhibited a number of Coliaa hyale bred from ova
laid by the parent butterfly taken at Sheerness, August 18th, 19U0.
Mr. J. W. Tutt said that twelve months ago there was no reliable
evidence as to the stage in which hyale passed the winter, but that
Mr. Carpenter had proved that it hybernates in the larval state, and
pupates and emerges in the spring. No one has yet successfully bred
G. ediisa through the winter, as they do not and cannot feed up these
in this country. Hyale, on the other hand, is perfectly quiescent
48 THE ENTOMOLOGIST.
during the winter months (October 20th to February 3rd, according
to Mr. Carpenter's observation), and nothing would induce the larvfe
to feed at that period even when subjected to a temperature of
between 60"" and 70° Fahrenheit. In the South of Europe and in
North Africa both species emerge normally in May or earlier, and the
larvae attempt in Great Britain to follow out their natural habit, with
the result that the great majority must perish, especially in the case
of C. edasa. The complete life history has been most accurately
described by Mr. F. W. Frohawk in the ' Entomologist ' for June,
1901. — Mr. R. S. Standen exhibited specimens of Lyccena dolus,
the type from Bordighera, and also Pierifi brassivoe. with greenish
under wings, a common form in the neighbourhood of Florence. Mr.
C. P. Pickett exhibited pupa-cases of Saturnia pavonia, one with two
openings, one with no openings, and a third containing three pupae,
from only one of which the imago had emerged. Mr. J. W. Tutt said
that this phenomenon was not unusual in the case of silkworms, and
commonly occun-ed also in the case of artificially bred Lasiocampa
lancstris, being probably due to overcrowding, but he did not know
that there was any evidence how the work was done. — The Rev. A. E.
Eaton exhibited adult Fsychodida; of morphological interest, preserved
in cork tubes with two per cent, formic aldehyde in distilled water.
— (1) Pericoma notabUis, Etn., as a sample of male flies retaining
prothoracic air nipples, such as Curtis figured (Brit. Ent. xvi. 745,
1839), and are possessed by pupae of both sexes, illustrated both by
Mial and Walker and by Fritz Miiller in the volume of the ' Trans-
actions ' of this Society for 1895 ; also by Kellogg, Ent. News, xii. 48,
figs. A, B. (Feb., 1901). Pericoma soleata, Hal. MS., has similar small
claviform air-nipples on the prothorax; and so have some undescribed
species more nearly related to P. notabUis, natives of Middle Europe
or of Algeria. (2) Male flies possessing erectile sacs, or else protrusible
tentacles arising one on each side of the mesothorax near the spiracle,
and receiving a strong branch from the main trachea of each side. In
the state of contraction these sacs or tentacles resemble a tuft of hair
which is very dense in some flies; by their distension, the tufts are
either spread open, or the tuft is resolved into scattered hairs distri-
buted over at least the whole of the upper surface of the tentacle.
These organs are probably subservient to sexual attraction, and
perhaps secrete scent. A few males possess them in addition to the
pair of prothoracic air-nipples — for instance P. fiisca and the species
figured by Curtis, P. aiiriculata (both exhibited) ; but more species are
possessors of the meso-pleural pair of appendages alone. The two
species last named differ in the shape of their thoracic appendages
now under consideration : the male P. fusca has short, chitinous,
slightly curved prothoracic air-nipples, and short nipple-like meso-
pleural appendages that spread a dense epaulet-like tuft of hair ; while
P. anriculata has slender club-shaped whitish prothoracic air-nipples,
and meso-pleural tentacles that are clad with silky hair and are
capable of great extension. But in the majority of species furnished
with this kind of tracheate appendages issuing from the meso-thorax,
those of the prothorax are absent ; and some have appendages of the
sac form, others of the tentacular form. Among the exhibits, Uloimjia
fuliginosa, Pericoma nitbila and trivialis are exponents of the short,
SOCIETIES. 49
nipple-like, erectile, sac- shaped meso-pleural type of appendage seen in
P. fusi-a ; while Pcriroma palusitris, mutna and the nameless species
from the Schwarzwald, together with P. cognata, which was not
exhibited, have the tentacular type of meso-pleural appendage seen
in P. auriculata. Mr. H. St. J. Douisthorpe read a paper entitled
" The Life-history of Ch/thra qiiadnpiinctata," and Mr. G. W. Kirkaldy
communicated "A Memoir upon the Rhynchotal Family Capsidce." —
H, Rowland Brown, M.A., Hon. Sec.
Jan.. 15th, 69th Annual Meeting. — The Rev. Canon Fowler, M.A.,
F.L.S., President, in the chair. — After an abstract of the Treasurer's
accounts, showing a large balance in the Society's favour, had been read
by Colonel Yerbury, R.A., one of the Auditors, Mr. H. Goss, one of the
Secretaries, read the Report of the Council. It was then announced
that the following had been elected Officers and Council for the
Session 1902-1903 :— President, the Rev. Canon Fowler, M.A., F.L.S. ;
Treasurer, Mr. Robert McLachlan, F.R.S. ; Secretaries, Mr. Herbert
Goss, F.L.S. , and Mr. Henry Rowland-Brown, M.A. ; Librarian, Mr.
George C. Champion, F.Z.S. ; and as other Members of Council, Mr.
R. Adkiu, Professor T. Hudson Beare, F.R.S.E. ; Mr. Arthur J.
Chitty, M.A. ; Mr. W. L. Distant, Mr. F. DuCane Godman, D.C.L. ;
F.R.S. ; the Rev. Francis D. Morice, M.A. ; Professor E. B. Poulton,
D.Sc, F.R.S.; Mr. Edward Saunders, F.L.S.; Dr. David Sharp,
M.A., F.R.S. ; and Colonel C. Swinhoe, M.A., F.L.S. The President
announced that he should appoint Dr. F. DuCane Godman, F.R.S.,
Professor E. B. Poulton, F.R.S. ; aud Dr. D. Sharp, F.R.S., as Vice-
Presidents for the Session 1902-1903. The President referred to the
losses the Society had sustained during the past Session by the deaths
of Mr. C. E. Collins; the Rev. Professor William P. Dickson, D.D. ;
Dr. H. W. Livett, M.D. ; Mr. Lionel de Niceville, F.L.S. ; Miss
Eleanor Ormerod, LL.D.; and Mr. H. Vivian, M.A. He then
delivered an Address, in which he dwelt chiefly with the question of
protective resemblance and mimicry in the case of the Coleoptera. At
the conclusion of the Address a vote of thanks to the President was
proposed by Professor Poulton, seconded by Professor Meldola, and
carried. A vote of thanks to the other officers was tben proposed by
Colonel Swinhoe, seconded by Mr. Distant, and carried. Canon
Fowler, Mr. Goss, and Mr. Rowland-Brown replied, and the pro-
ceedings terminated. — H. Goss and H. Rowland-Brown, Hoyi. Sees,
South London Entomological and Natural History Society. —
Nocember 28th, 1901.— Mr. W. J. Lucas, B.A.,F.E.S., Vice-President, in
the chair. The evening was set apart for a special exhibition of
varieties and notable captures. A considerable number of members
and friends attended, and a large number of specimens were exhibited.
— Mr. Carpenter exhibited a long and fine bred series of ( 'alias hyale,
from ova laid by a female from Sheerness, taken Aug. 18th, 1900. —
Mr. Lucas, male and female of the rare British dragonfly Libel lulafulva,
taken near Bournemouth by Major Robertson ; male Oxygastra curtisii
from the same district ; and male, female, and female var. aurantiaca
of Ischnura elegans, from the New Forest. He also showed two large
and perfect bubble-shells, Haminea hydatis, from South Devon, with a
curious thickened and eroded specimen of Anodonta anatina, from the
ENTOM. — FEBRUARY, 1902. E
50 THE ENTOMOLOGIST.
New Forest. — Mr. Aslidown, extreme variations in size of the following
Coleoptera : — Clytua arietis, G. mysticus, Molochus minor, and Pachyta
ceramhyciformis. — Mr. West, a species of Homoptera, Stictocoris flaveolus ,
new to the British list, and taken by himself near Blackiieath, in
August and September, 1901. — Mr. Thornthwaite, a dark Hyhernia
defoliaria, taken by him on his way to the meeting. — Mr. W. J. Kaye,
a beautiful series of Ambulyx rostralis, a South and Central American
Sphingid, with specimens of var. yanascus, which some consider a
species. Also he showed a single specimen of a new species of Ambulyx,
which he taken during the past summer, while on an expedition to the
interior of British Guiana. — Messrs. Harrison and Main, varied series
of (1) Triphama comes from various localities, including the Isle of
Lewis; (2) Ayrotis tritici from Isle of Lewis and Wallasey ; (3) Odonto-
pera bidentata ; (4) Camptoyraiiniia bilineata ; and (5) jSlelanippe sociata,
all from the Isle of Lewis. — Mr. E. Adkin, several of the same species
from the Isle of Lewis, with Noctna xanthoynipha, particularly fine and
varied Boarmia repandata, Coremia ferruyata, and Xylophasia mono-
ylypha. He also showed an example of Pieris daplidice, with Colias
hyale and C. ediisa, taken at Eastbourne, 1901. — Mr. Montgomery, a
very fine bred series of Pieris napi, including a number of fine
examples of var. bryonice, from ova laid by a female taken by Mr. Har-
rison at Meyringen, July 9th, 1900 ; a series of bred Leiicophasia
sinapis, consisting of four broods from females sent alive to him from
Malvern ; and bred series of Aryynnis paphia and var. valezina from
New Forest ova. — Mr. Porritt, black forms of Pharetra menyanthidis
from Selby ; Mania typica, with a large pale pinkish V-shaped mark
across each wing ; Cosmia trapezina, with central baud dark olive-
green ; black Larentia mtdtistriyaria ; a yellow Anchocelis rufina ; and a
black Odontopera bidentata ; all from Yorkshire. — Mr. Garrett, Sphinx
convolvidi from Wilts, September, 1901 ; Miselia oxyacantlm and var.
capucina from Wimbledon ; Epiinda lutulenta taken off ripe black-
berries at Reading ; Dasycanrpa rubiyinea from Berkshire ; and Tanio-
cavipa pupuleti ixoxn. Wimbledon Common. — Mr. Chittenden, Lithosia
sericea ; var. confiuens of Anthrocera trifolii; black Nyssia hispidaria ;
Zunosoma pendalaria, blue from Lancashire, light from Kent ; Cymato-
phora duplaris, black, bred, from Kent; dark Pachetra leucophaa ; dark
Hybernia maryinaria, Kent; &c. — Mr. Brown (G. B.), a specimen of
Euvanessa antiopa taken by his little boy at Lee, together with a
Sphinx concolvuli taken at Lydd, the former on Aug. 24th, and the.
latter on Sept. 14th. — Major Ficklin, two very pale DiantJmcia luteayo
var. Jicklini, and one with suffused marking ; together with an ex-
ample of Brenthis selene with very dark under wings. — Mr. Stanley
Edwards, several species of the "leaf" butterflies, Kallima, and
a box of exotic PapiUos. — Dr. Chapman, Pieris brassicce with black
marginal line on hind wing ; Aryynnis adippe var. chlorodippe with
black suffusion ; and a dark variety of Melitcua athalia from Spain.
— Mr. Rowland-Brown, series of Lycmna dolus var. vittata from
Cannes, and L. admetiis var. rippertii for comparison ; a var. of MelitcBa
cinxia with the black spots on the under side almost absent ; and
Aryynnis lathonia with the left lower wing abnormally small. — Mr.
Sich, small dark var. of Aylais urticce ; two varieties of Xylophasia
polyodon, one having a dark median band, the other with confluent
SOCIETIES. 51
stigmata ; a Plusia fjamma having the y mark reduced to a pale
spot.
December \1th. — Mr. W. J. Lucas, Vice-President, in the chair. —
Mr. Newnham, Hersham, Surrey, was elected a member. — Mr.
MacArthur exhibited a male specimen of Lasiocawpa quercus taken at
Brighton, and having the female coloration. — Mr. Kirkaldy, a specimen
of the Heteropteron Pu'duviolus Jems ?, having the wings on one side
brachypterous and on the other macropterous. — Mr. F. M. B. Carr, a
bred series of Selenia illunaria, compared with the female parents,
and showing considerable variation ; series of Ennomos angularia from
several localities, for comparison ; Dicijcla oo from Chingford ; varied
series of BnjopJdla muralia from Hythe ; and series of Acidalia mar-
ginepunctata from Hythe and Porloek, the latter being much the
darker. — Dr. Chapman read a paper entitled, " A few weeks in Central
Spain, and exhibited long and varied series of the Spanish forms of
British Lepidoptera, and of species very closely related to British
species. — Hy. J. Turner [Ron. Report Secy.).
Lancashire and Cheshire Entomological Society. — The monthly
meeting was held on Dec. 9th, 1901, in the Grosvenor Museum,
Chester, where the members were most cordially received by the
Curator, Mr. Robert Newstead, and Dr. H. Dobie. The Vice-President,
Mr. R. Wilding, occupied the chair. — The chairman, on behalf of the
Society, thanked Mr. Newstead for his handsome donation to the
library of a copy of the first volume of his work on the scale insects
entitled, ' A Monograph of the British Coccidfe.' This valuable con-
tribution to the science of entomology has been published by the Eay
Society, and contains thirty-nine plates from original drawings by the
author. The work, purely a labour of love, is not only of great in-
terest to the entomologist as being the first monograph of these injurious
insects ever published in this country, but is also of great practical
value to the fruit-grower ; and it would be well if a copy of it could be
placed in the hands of every market-gardener and horticulturist
throughout the land. — The following exhibits were examined : — Recent
specimens of Lyccsna arion, and Welsh specimens of Saturnia pavonia,
by Mr. Newstead ; British Aphodiina, including A. villoms a,iid jEgialia
rufa, by Mr. Wilding ; Trigonogenius globulus, a Coleopteron new to the
Cheshire Hst, on behalf of Mr. E. J. Burgess- Sopp ; rare Aculeate
Hymenoptera from Cheshire and North Wales, including Pompilus
approximatus, Astata stigma, Oxybelus mucronatus, Vespa austriaca,
Colletes cuniciilaria, Halictus atricornis, Osmia xanthomelana 0. inermis,
and 0. parietina, by Mr. Willoughby Gardner ; the exceedingly rare
Ophiodes lunaris, taken in Delamere Forest by Mr. T. Wright, of War-
rington (an account of this capture, establishing its genuineness
beyond all doubt, was given by Mr. Joseph Collins, along with a
summary of all the previous British records) ; a fine series of Lepido-
ptera from Simons wood Moss, including Carsia imbutata and Celmia
haworthii, by Dr. J. Cotton. — Mr. Newstead read a paper entitled
" Entomological Gleanings from my Diary," which was illustrated by
electric hght views. As usual, it was exceedingly instructive, almost
every sentence containing some new observation or fact in insect
economy, so that this most wide-awake of naturalists kept his hearers
52 THE ENTOMOLOGIST.
on the alert all the time. The paper included the following subjects : —
A night in Delamere with an electric arc lamp ; the occurrence of
Zeuzcra (bscuH in Cheshire ; the assembling of Saturuia paronia ; jays
and the larvfe of Geometra impilionaria ; the genus Semi in Delamere ;
Tipnla oleracca and its ravages — how the rooks and gulls destroy it
by thousands, four hundred being found in a single pellet or casting of
the black-headed gull ; the life-history of Sdundria atra, or pear-tree
sawfly ; and recent researches amongst the scale insects. Hearty
thanks were offered to Mr, Newstead by Mr, R. Wilding, Dr. J. W.
ElUs, and Mr. W. Gardner, — Fkederick Biech, Hon. Secretary.
Birmingham Entomological Society. — November 18th, 1901. — Mr.
A. H, Martineau in the chair. Dr. Stacey Wilson and Mr. E. A.
Laxar were elected members of the Society. — Mr. Wainwright ex-
hibited the Tachinid Brachyclmta Hpiniijera from near Hampton-in-
Arden, and said that this was the species which had been described by
Meade as Desroidea fusea, and not Staiirochata gracilis, as supposed by
Brauer and Von Berganstamm. — Mr. P. W. Wynn, a number of Lepi-
doptera taken by himself in South Devonshire, during the last week of
August and first of September this year ; amongst others were LitJiosia
caniola, three worn specimens; Leucania albijiuncta, one only ; Cara-
drina exigua, two only; C. amhigua, a nice long series in very fine con-
dition ; Heiiothis aniiigera, worn ; As]}ilates ochrearia (citraria), a nice
long series; Aridalia subsericeata ; and a very fine long series of A.
marginepunctata. — Mr. A. D. Finns, mounted preparations and draw-
ings of marine larvae which he believed to belong to the genus Clnnio,
and which were taken submerged in rock-pools at Port Erin Bay, Isle
of Man. — Mr. J. T. Fountain, Lepidoptera from Jersey : — a series of
CaUimorpha quadripunctaria (Jwra), including forms running into
yellow ; a long and very variable series of Bryophila muralis, and a
very fine series of Psecadia bipunctella ; the last species, he said, was
found early in the morning, and the earlier they were looked for, the
more there were, most being found at six a.m. — Mr. R. C. Bradley, a
series of Velecocera tricincta from Bournemouth, taken this summer ;
this time he found them on the top of the cliffs, not in the hollows of
the chines as before. — Colbkan J, Wainwright, Hon, Sec.
RECENT LITERATURE.
Photography for Naturalists. By Douglas English. Illustrated by
the Author's photographs from the living objects. London :
Iliffe and Sons, Limited. 1901.
Present-day biologists have a great advantage over their prede-
cessors in that they have a ready means of recording facts in con-
nection with animal life other than by drawing, painting, or verbal
description. To the brothers Kearton, perhaps, we owe chiefly the
popularizing of the camera in field natural history, and in Mr.
English's book we are reminded of the work of the better known
writers just mentioned. In addition to general information on
KECENT LITERATURE.
53
methods, aims, apparatus, and materials, there are chapters specially
devoted to various groups of animals, though the information given
under these various headings often seems to be of general application.
Most of the somewhat numerous illustrations we like very much,
LucANUs OEK\ us. (From ' Photography for Naturalists.')
the small mammals, reptiles, and fish being in most cases particularly
pleasing. Entomologists no doubt would have forgiven the author if
he had devoted more than one chapter to their special branch, but that,
of course, was out of the question, and, indeed, unnecessary, since
throughout the book are given so many hints on means and methods
of securing desired results. Perhaps it is hardly worth meutioninc
Vanessa atalanta. (From ■ ['i.l
jhy for Naturalists.')
that we notice the word "variety" used more than once where
"species" is clearly intended; and that we fail to see where the
" birds " will fall in the scheme of Nature if they are not to be classed
amongst the " animals " (p. 27). Mr. English is clearly writing
about what he has himself practised, and we heartily recommend his
work to the favourable notice of the " Naturalist with a Camera."
Two illustrations in the book are here reproduced by permission of
the publishers.
W. J. Lucas.
54 THE ENTOMOLOGIST.
W. F. DE ViSMES Kane. — A Catalogue of the LepidojJtera of Ireland.
Reprinted, with an Introduction, from the ' Entomologist.' 1901.
West, Newman & Co. xviii, viii, and 166 pp. ; and a coloured Plate.
The readers of the ' Entomologist ' will already be familiar with
the main portion of this useful work, which has been running serially
for some years through the pages of the ' Entomologist,' and now re-
published in a complete and handy form, prefaced by a discussion upon
the origin of the distribution of the Irish Lepidopterous Fauna.
From the collector's standpoint, Ireland is not offered as an attrac-
tive field, for not only does the climate interfere with continuous work,
but Lepidoptera in most districts are actually scarce. This is due to,
"firstly, the very large area of country with a heavy and tenacious soil,
which retains and becomes sodden with wet. Secondly, by the ' in-
sular climate,' with constant rainfall and but little frost throughout the
autumn, winter, and spring ; . . . while the summers are characterized
by the want of sunlight and heat." The absence of the great banks
and hedgerows of England — due to ancient and settled agriculture —
the absence of any great districts of primaeval forest-lands, or of fen
districts, &c., are other causes of this scarcity. Where the opposite
conditions prevail, are the most productive hunting-grounds, as also
the extensive bogs, and the long coast-line with sand-dunes. " In such
situations no disappointment will be felt by the most greedy collector."
Ireland is held out, however, as " unrivalled in Europe in respect
of isolation of geological history," and it is for the purpose of eluci-
dating the numerous problems connected with the origins of the geo-
graphical distribution of the Insecta that scientific collectors are so
much needed in Ireland. Even in England, the only orders of whose
local distribution there is extended information are Lepidoptera and
Coleoptera ; while in Ireland, Scotland, and Wales there are huge
tracts entomologically unknown. In Scotland a few "show places"
— as, for example, Eannoch — are visited year after year for the same
rarities, while the lonely glens of Ross and the wild moors of the
Hebrides remain silent. In Ireland it is almost incredible that the
Lepidoptera are a " neglected order," but now that Mr. Kane has pro-
vided a sound Introduction, based upon many years of patient research,
it remains for the many enthusiastic and experienced English collectors
to combine an inexpensive and health-giving holiday amid magnificent
scenery with opportunities for entomological work of an enduring value.
The origin of the Palsearctic Insect fauna is an extremely difficult
matter to discuss briefly. In the first place, the leading authorities
are widely divergent as to their opinions on climatic conditions at
certain important periods ; and, secondly, even were this not so, it is
very doubtful whether the methods of dispersal adopted by the Insecta
are at all comparable with those employed by e.y. the Mammalia. As
the principal arguments of writers are in general based upon their
studies of Vertebrates, Plants, and, to some extent, MoUusca, we may,
in following these authorities, be founding our speculations on an
erroneous basis. Students of the Vertebrata, moreover, are enormously
aided by fossil remains, which in the Insecta are so seldom found, and
when found are so rarely in sufficiently good preservation for the
obtaining of more than very general inferences as to their systematic
position, that they may safely be disregarded in detailed work.
RECENT LITERATURE. 55
It is usually admitted that in the earlier periods of the Tertiary
Epoch — the epoch in which we are now actually living, though it was
formerly the fashion to isolate ourselves in a "Quaternary Epoch " —
the climate and configuration of Western Europe were very different
to their present condition. The former was semi-tropical, while the
Continent had a ijotable extension westwards, there being solid laud,
broadly speaking, from North Scandinavia to Spain, including the
Britisli Isles. Till recently it was very generally held that a " Glacial
Period" or "Ice Age" ensued, which was of such a rigorous nature
that all life was blotted out over almost the whole of Europe. This is
the view held, for instance, by Buchanan White,''' E. Hofman.f and
W. Petersen.]: E. F. Scharff, on the contrary, § maintains an almost
diametrically opposite view, the crux of his position being "that the
glacial period in Europe was not a time of extreme cold, and that its
destructive effect on the animals and plants was by no means such as
is currently reported"; in fact, that the climate was not very different
from what obtains now, but moister, with warmer winters and cooler
summers. Scharff has been criticized at great length by L. Stejueger,||
who holds an intermediate position, and considers that the Ice Age in
Europe was similar in climate to that now obtaining in Greenland and
the islands north of Hudson's Bay.H It is therefore obvious that the
presence or absence, at the present day, of " pre-glacial " faunas in the
British Islands, and in Ireland especially, is far from being an esta-
blished fact. Buchanan White considered that Britain derived the
whole of " its butterfly fauna from Continental Europe in post-glacial
times," a natural sequence to his belief of the rigour of the glacial
climate. It is remarkable, however, that at the commencement of the
Ice Age a large portion of the western continent was submerged, and
Ireland was cut off from Spain, but was nevertheless prolonged south-
wards considerably beyond its present limits. It is considered possible
that this south-western extension — now submerged — was the refuge of
the pre-glacial semi-tropical British " Biota " (as Stejneger terms the
"Fauna" and " Flora"). The presence in Ireland of such forms as
the spotted slug [Geomalacus macHlosiis), and the strawberry-tree (^Jriuius
unedo), can scarcely be otherwise explained, although Kane seems to
favour a post-glacial bridge between South Ireland and the west coast
of France. It is doubtful, however, whether any Insects can be
pointed out with any degree of certainty as pre-glacial relics, and there
is always the risk of confounding these with comparatively recent im-
portations due to the formerly not inconsiderable commerce between
the Peninsula and Ireland. Among these "relics" may possibly be
the little moth Zelleria philli/rella, a native of Southern France, Italy,
■'' "Some thoughts on the distribution of the British Butterflies," 1881,
'Entomologist,' xiv. pp. 265-77.
t " Die Isoporien der Europ. Tagfalter," 1873, Inaugural Dissert. Philos.
Fakultat, Jena.
I "Die Lepidopt. Fauna d. arktisch. Gebiete v. Euroi3a," 1888, Beitr.
Kenntn. Euss. Eeichs iv.
§ ' History of the European Fauna,' London, 1899, vii and 364 pp., 21 figs.
II Scharff' s " History of the Europ. Fauna," 1901, American Nat. xxxv.
p. 87, et seqq.
•f In connection with this Stejneger notes that a humming-bird occm's as
far North as Sitka, almost within sight of the gigantic glaciers*
56 THE ENTOMOLOGIST.
and Greece, and recently discovered in Connemara, but not found else-
where in Britain. The weevil Otiorrhnnchus auropunctatus occurs also
in Ireland, but not elsewhere north of the Auvergne Mountains.
Stejneger considers that some pre-glacial forms (such as (Jeomala-
cus) may well have survived the Glacial Period in sheltered nooks, and
adds : — " We see even to-day isolated spots having a southern tempera-
ture within the limits of countries with a northern climate, and, on the
other hand, similar northern oases in regions bounded by isotherms
indicating a southern climate."
Stejneger also contends that too much reliance must not be placed
on an admixture of northern and southern forms, as to conditions of
climate. It is well known that the tiger, usually regarded as a tropical
animal, hunts the wild reindeer in Manchuria, in a district having an
annual temperature of between 0° and —2° C.
Since the climax of the Glacial Period, whatever may have been the
amount of rigour then endured, the cold has gradually diminished, and
our islands have been gradually restocked from the Continent. There is
little agreement as to periods at which this influx occurred, and these
matters cannot possibly be discussed within the limits of this notice.
Suffice it to say that the greater part probably took place when the
isles (or rather Great Britain only) were joined to the Continent by
France and by Scandinavia, although of course there was much topo-
graphical shifting during the periods in question. Ireland was cut off
at probably a very early date, and it is to this in great part that the
meagre Irish fauna is due. Kane, however, insists upon the mis-
leading character of a survey of the extant species, based solely upon
geological history, without considering the characteristics of the organ-
isms, and their capabilities of adaptation to environment. He regards
the restriction of distribution in many of the Irish Lepidoptera as due
to a similar restriction of the food-plant. lUwdocera {Guneptenjx)
rhaiiDu, e.g., is apparently restricted, in Ireland, to the "localities
affording a sufficient abundance of FJuDnnns, and not by climatic con-
ditions ; C'aisia puliulata is similarly dependent upon its local food-
plant," Vaccinium oxi/coccos. Larentia flavicinetana has hitherto only
been noted — and that recently — from Ballycastle, but its search is
recommended on its food-plant, Saxi/raga hijpnoides, along the Antrim,
Sligo, and Clare coast-line. The notable absence of many English
fen-haunting species from the Irish loughs, where Arnndo, Typha, and
various Oarices are plentiful, is explained by the supposition that
these insects "reached England from Holland, and, not finding suit-
able conditions west of Cambridge, did not spread further."
One of the most remarkable and inexplicable failures in the Irish
fauna is the lepidopteron V(ine>;m cardiu, which establishes itself either
partially or wholly, with difficulty. As the "Painted Lady" is cosmo-
politan, having penetrated to New Zealand, and even to the Hawaiian
group, it is not easy to account for this instability by a reference to
the "insular" climate of Ireland.
The impression gained from a study of the facts in their widest
application leads only to the opinion that it is possible to say very
little definite at present — as regards the Insecta, at least — and this is
strengthened by close examination of the speculations advanced by
White, Scharff, Stejneger, and Kane, in the works cited.
THE ENTOMOLOGIST
Vol. XXXV.l MAKCH, 1902. [No. 466.
FORMATION OF PATTERN ON EGGSHELL OF A SPECIES
OF LEPIDOPTERA.
By Ambrose Quail, F.E.S.
Messrs. Dawson and Woodhead published * the results of
some experiments with certain fats and waxes, showing that on
cooling these form into shapes of a "crystalline" nature; melted
beeswax forming into natural hexagons, the dimensions of which
may be varied by the thickness of the wax, microscopical hexa-
gons resulting when very thin.
Analogy between these naturally formed "crystalline" shapes
of fats and waxes, and the sculpturing of the eggshell of lepi-
dopterous ova suggests itself, and to this I refer in my paper on
"Embryology," Part I. (Trans. N. Z. Institute, vol. xxxiii.). A
recent examination which I made will no doubt be of interest,
and so far as it goes justifies the analogy.
The ovum of Melanchra (Mamestra) mutans has very distinct
sculpturing, probably not more so than other Mamestra, but the
longitudinal ribs are strongly developed, the transverse lines
being very fine, it is really only with high magnification it is
seen that the fundamental pattern is a modified hexagon ; at
the micropylar area the pattern is definitely hexagonal. Theore-
tically, it might be suggested that the strong parallel ribs assist
the ova to keep in position until deposited, but this does not
appear to be so.
Within the abdomen of Hepiali the ova are connected by
thread-like tissue, each ovum forming a definite part of long
strings of ova, and are not easily separable. The ova of M.
mutans are not so connected by tissue ; in fact, I was unable to
detect any such bearing definite relation to the ova, which are
smooth, placed end on end, pressed flat against each other, so
* ' Natural Science,' vol. xv. p. 347.
ENTOM. — MARCH, 1902. F
58 THE ENTOMOLOGIST.
forming continuous rouleaux of ova, from which any and each is
easily separable. It is not easy to detect the exact process, but
I am fully satisfied that the rouleaux of ova are bathed length-
wise by a fluid (fat ?) ; so long as this continues the ova are
sniooth, but as the quantity of fluid diminishes the ova become
exposed to the air, sculpturing forms thereon, when quite dry the
ova have orthodox sculpture of deposited ova.
There is little doubt that the bathing of the ova with fluid
continues until the act of deposition, and it seems certain that
the pattern of the ovum is due to this fluid, as it dries on ex-
posure to air, forming into "crystalline" shapes. The fact that
a few ova remained smooth is in accord with this conclusion,
since these were amongst the earliest exposed to the air on
opening the abdomen, being thereby probably too suddenly
deprived of the necessary fluid.
Palmerston, N., New Zealand : Dec. 3rd, 1901.
THE COCCID GENUS AULACASPIS.
By T. D, a, Cockerell.
The genus Aulacaspis, the type of which is A. rosce (Bouche),
was separated from Diaspis by the present writer in 1893. The
generic characters were supposed to be the strongly tricarinate
male scale, and the divergent median lobes of the female, serrate
on their long inner margins, Mr. R. Newstead, in his ' Mono-
graph of the Coccidffi of the British Isles,' just published by the
Ray Society, argues that these characters are not of generic
importance. Nevertheless, he accepts Aulacaspis, distinguishing
it from Diaspis by the regular rows of dorsal glands in the
abdomen of the female. This character, taken as generic, gives
us a new classification of the species, and I have therefore
attempted to see whether it could be applied satisfactorily to all
the species of the world. After some study, I remained un-
decided whether or not to accept Mr. Newstead's proposed reform,
until I observed that by segregating the species on the proposed
basis Diaspis became an American genus, Aulacaspis an Old
World one. The type of Diaspis is D. calyptroides, which lives
on cacti, and is unquestionably of American origin. Other
species of Diaspis, tested by Mr. Newstead's character, are
D. celtidis, arizonicus, townsendi, pharadendri, baccharidis, and
australis, all American. D. carueli was first found in Europe,
and has been thought to be of European origin ; I now believe
it is American, as it is not uncommon in the United States, and
it is significant that the British specimens were on an American
THE COCCID GENUS AULACASPIS. 59
species of Juniperus. Aulacaspis hoisdiivalii v. maculata, Ckll.,
becomes Diaspis boisdavalii v. maculata. Aidacaspis vdranda,
Ckll., becomes Diaspis miranda. Aidacaspis cattlei/ce, Ckll.,
becomes Diaspis cattleijcB. These three are all American. Diaspis
piricola, Del Guercio, appears to be certainly paltearctic, yet it
is not an Aidacaspis. But it has the club-shaped glands at the
bases of the lobes, as in Diaspidiotus, and I think it is related
thereto rather than to Diaspis. It may stand as Epidiaspis
piricola, using in a generic sense the subgeneric name already
applied to it. (' Suppt. Check-list of Coccidse,' p. 398.) Aida-
caspis will contain at least the following, all described or listed
under Diaspis by authors : —
Aidacaspis roses (Bouche). Europe.
Aidacaspis fagrcece (Green). Ceylon. The male scale has
no keel.
Aidacaspis pentagona (Targ.). Probably native of -Japan or
China.
Aidacaspis auranticolor (Ckll.). Japan. The first (caudad)
row of dorsal glands consists of only eight, the second has hardly
so many.
Aidacaspis pcrsimilis (Ckll.). Mexico; but so close to penta-
gona that it is doubtless originally from the same region, and
was taken to Mexico on cultivated plants. It is possibly only a
variety of pentagona.
Aidacaspis loranthi (Green). Ceylon. Male scale tri-
carinate.
Aidacaspis craivii (Ckll.). China.
Aidacaspis craivii fidleri (Ckll.). South Africa.
Diaspis zaniics and Poliaspis cycadis are of unknown origin,
having been found hitherto on cultivated plants only, mainly in
hothouses. But, judging from their affinities as shown by the
glands, it seems likely that the first came from tropical America,
and the second from the tropics of the Old World, where it finds
a reasonably close ally in Aidacaspis fagrcece.
I will add a word about Mr. Newstead's treatment of Parla-
toria. I have regarded P. pergandei as a variety of proteus, but
I must now agree with Mr. Newstead that it is a valid species.
Further, I think P. proteus v. crotonis (of which Mr. Newstead
gives a beautiful plate) is also a good species, to be called Parla-
toria crotonis (Douglas).
East Las Vegas, New Mexico, U.S.A. :
Jan. 2nd, 1902.
F 2
60 THE ENTOMOLOGIST.
A FEW NOTES ON SOME OF THE BUTTERFLIES OF
SYRIA AND PALESTINE.
By Maegahet E. Fountaine, F.E.S.
Though I spent four months (from April 5th to August 3rd)
in these two countries during the past summer, my success
entomologically was anything but unprecedented, possibly the
many counter interests of the places I visited may in some
degree account for this ; but at the same time I cannot describe
Syria or Palestine, with the exception of one or two favoured
spots, as countries in which butterflies might be said to abound.
This is, I think, easily accounted for by the excessive aridity and
absolute bareness of most of the mountains, which I can only
describe as treeless, shrubless, and flowerless wastes, with large
rocks and stones strewn everywhere in profuse abundance, even
in the narrow strips of cultivated ground, generally appropriated
for the cultivation of wheat or barley ; indeed, I have seen the
furrows of a cornfield entirely composed of loose stones, no sign
of earth being visible, but a scanty crop was struggling on
towards a mean and miserable harvest notwithstanding. Yet it
is in these cornfields, choked with weeds, that (as Mrs. Nicholl
remarked) the butterflies often seek a refuge, and places that in
Europe would be passed over as most unlikely to be productive
of anything worth netting would be the very spots that in Syria
one would make for in desperation as the only alternative to an
absolutely barren wilderness.
However, in the month of April I had an excellent fortnight's
collecting in the neighbourhood of Ain Zahalta (a village in the
Lebanon), though the weather some days was not altogether
desirable. The country round Beyrout, too, especially up the
Nahr-el-Kelb, or Dog River, was on the whole far from dis-
appointing. In May I visited Damascus; and at the end of that
month I found myself at Baalbek, a place of immense archaeo-
logical interest, but where I did practically no collecting worth
mentioning. From June 4th to June 11th I was at Bsherreh,
collecting in the neighbourhood of the Cedars. And on June 26th
I started from Damascus to take the overland route to Jerusalem
on horseback, arriving on July 6th. The heat was terrific, but
I managed to do a certain amount of collecting on the way,
much to the annoyance of the mukari, who finally ended in
expressing his disapprobation by smashing my net to pieces,
presumably by accident (?), but was greatly dismayed when, on
being ordered by my courier to unload the baggage horse,
another equally well-appointed net was produced from one of my
valises, the which he was told that if, when consigned to his
care, it should be either torn, lost, or broken, he should receive
BUTTERFLIES OF SYRIA AND PALESTINE. 61
no bakhshish at the end of the journey, needless to add that that
net arrived at Jerusalem in a high state of preservation.
I will now proceed to describe consecutivel,y the few species I
did come across ; though my list lacks several that were taken
by Mrs. Nicholl in the same localities, and also often at about the
same time of year in 1900, and contains very few that she did
not take, though my stay in the country began rather earlier
than hers, and extended several weeks later in the season. I
shall not mention any of the commoner species one meets with
everywhere unless I have any remarks to make upon them.
Thais cerhiji, B, — Abundant almost everywhere in Syria, from the
sea-level to an elevation of some 4000 ft. ; especially common at Ain
Zahalta in April. In May, at Aley, I found the larvae feeding on a
very large kind of Aristolochia, which I sent to a friend in Budapest,
but unluckily tbey all died on the journey. I did not see a second
brood of this butterfly.
Doritis apollinus, Hbst. — This insect was practically over when I
got to Syria, even in the mountains in the middle of April ; for, though
in some places in the neighbourhood of Ain Zahalta it flew in great
abundance, it was almost impossible to find one specimen that was
not torn and rubbed. However, I collected a number of the larvae,
which I found in great quantities, full-grown, and rolled up in the
leaves of the same large Aristolochia, so that in a few days they all
pupated. I took some sixty or seventy of them, and could have
gathered hundreds more had I wished to do so. The larva of this
butterfly had been first pointed out to me by Prof. Day up the Dog
River, near Beyrout, feeding on a different and smaller kind of this
plant.*
Pieris mesentina, Cramer. — This butterfly was beginning to come
out on the plains south of Nazareth the first week in July ; but I only
succeeded in catching one specimen. It is the strongest and most
rapid flyer of any butterfly I have ever seen. On July 31st, at about
5 p.m., I saw several which I could easily have captured in the
grounds of the American College at Beyrout, but unluckily, not having
my net with me, I was unable to do so ; and the following morning,
towards midday, the chances of catching swallows on the wing with a
butterfly-net could scarcely be less than was my chance at this hour of
the day of netting one of these swift-flying Pieris. (Observation. —
Should not be sought for till after five o'clock on a sunny after-
noon.)
Anthocharis helemia var. glauce, Hiib. — An occasional much worn
specimen down on the coast in April and the beginning of May.
■'- The first emergence took place on December 22nd ; unluckily it was a
cripple. Several have since come out, but as yet only three specimens have
expanded properly ; the rest were all more or less deformed. One specimen,
after having remained for about twenty-four hours in exactly the same con-
dition as when it left its chrysalis, all at once began to expand, till it was
almost perfect, except for one of the hind wings. Is it usual for freshly-
emerged insects to wait twenty-four hours before they make up their minds
to develop ?— M. E. F.
62 THE ENTOMOLOGIST.
A. belia var. aiisonia, Hiib. — Not common, either on the coast or in
the mountains.
A. cJiarlonia \?iv penia, Frey. — My experiences with this buttterfly
seem exactly to tally with those of Mrs. Nicholl and others, Never
common, only occurring singly and at rare intervals ; I took four
specimens, some of which were rather worn, and saw a few besides,
near Ain Zahalta, towards the end of April.
A. damone, Feisth. — Fresh and plentiful near Ain Zahalta in April;
the females, too, were fairly common, but much less so than the
males. Specimens I have seen from Greece were much larger and
finer than the Syrian form.
Lencophasia duponcheli var. (Bstiva, Stgr. — I took this variety on the
Jebel-el-Arz (Cedar Mountain) early in June, not far below the
summit of the pass (8000 ft.) upon which only a week previous I had
ridden for a distance of several yards over some still unmelted snow. It
was not rare, but difficult to catch, on account of the steepness of the
mountain side over which it was flying.
Idmais fausta, Oliv. — Of the habits and life-history of this butterfly
I received a very interesting description from Mrs. Day. It first
appears on the wing at the very end of June or beginning of July, and
from that time produces a succession of broods on till the end of Sep-
tember, when it entirely vanishes in all its stages, and Mrs. Day has
hitherto been unable to determine whether it passes the winter, spring
and early summer in the ova, larva, or pupa state, or even, possibly,
as a hybernating butterfly ; though I cannot but think, if this were
the case, the warm, sunny days of April, May and June could not fail
to tempt it from its winter retreat ; and it never reappears till the
period above stated when, curiously enough, eggs, caterpillars and
butterflies are all to be found simultaneously. The first appearance of
it during the past summer, observed by Mrs. Day, was the sight of a
worn female laying eggs ; this would lead one to lean towards the idea
of hybernation in the perfect state. However, at about the same
time I saw it myself, inland; first on June 28th, one specimen, fresh
out, near Banyas, and others, for the most part also quite fresh, three
days later, in an olive-garden near the supposed Cana of Galilee, evi-
dently just emerged. I observed it more than once flying in the
streets of Jerusalem, and when I returned to Beyrout on July 15th,
"the salmon butterfly" was very much in evidence everywhere, I
think I might say, in town and country, I also found eggs and larvse
in all stages, feeding in quantities upon the leaves of the caper-plant,
which grows wild in these countries. Mrs. Day informed me that,
whereas the eggs and caterpillars are always to be found like this from
the very beginning of July, she has never been able to discover any
during the earlier months of the year. I bred some forty or fifty
specimens myself and, with the exception of one deformity, every
pupa I had produced a perfect insect, the proportion of males and
females being about equal, though the male flies in considerably
greater abundance in the natural state. The period from ova to
imago occupies only three weeks, or even less ; the larvae feed up with
the greatest rapidity ; and the pupa stage of these summer broods
extends over a period of only a few days. Yet it is as a pupa that I
should be most inclined to think it passes those mysterious inter-
NOTES ON THE DIVISION VELIIAEIA [eHYNCHOTA] . 63
mediate months, a problem, Mrs. Day tells me, she is determined to
solve, and the solution of which will, I think, be most interesting.
Thecla ilicis var. caudatula, Z. — Taken near Aineta, in the Lebanon,
first week in June, on the slopes of a mountain more or less clothed
with plantations of young Syrian oak-trees, where they were extremely
plentiful, and all, as far as I could make out, belonging to the long-
tailed aberration.
T. mi/rtale, Klug. — Fairly common in the neighbourhood of the
Cedars early in June, but I only took one female, and not a very long
series of males.
Thestor callimachus, Ev. — I took one perfect male specimen of this
butterfly on May 13th, at Aley. It was probably only just emerging,
and a spell of dull cold weather would account for my seeing no more
of it before I left Aley, two days later.
PolyommatHS thersanwn var. omphale, Klug. — This is undoubtedly
a summer variety ; those I took in the spring were all normal, while
all the males of the summer brood possessed tails quite as long, if not
longer, than the ordinary female.
Ci(/aritis acamas, Klug. — Three bad specimens only, all near
Beyrout in May, two of which were taken in the grounds of the
American College ; and I saw another in this same place early in
August. Mrs. Day has not as yet been able to discover upon what
plant this little Cigar itis lays its eggs.
(To be continued.)
NOTES ON THE DIVISION VELIIARIA [RHYNCHOTA]
( = SuBFAM. VELIDiE, Leth. & Sev.).
By G. W. Kirkaldy, F.E.S.
(Concluded from Entom. xxxiv. p. 310.)
E. NIGRICANS {Burm.).
Velia nigricans, Burm. 1835, Handb. p. 213.
Burmeister's description is altogether inadequate, and the
species has long been unknown to me. I now have a pair from
Syria which are probably referable to it.
Elongate ; first segment of antennae two-thirds longer than second,
second and fourth subequal, third one-sixth longer than fourth ; third
segment of intermediate tarsi very slightly longer than second.
(Maeropterous form : prono'tum obtusely angulate, obsoletely carinate
longitudinally.)
Blackish brown with yellowish pubescence ; base of first segment
of antennae pallid. Femora shining black, base (coxae, spines, except
tips of latter, &c.) pallid ; an interrupted pale line at apex of
pronotum.
64 THE ENTOMOLOGIST.
^ . Seventh segment above truncate apically, longer than sixth,
and a trifle longer than the eighth.
Long, 4 mill. ; lat. 1^ mill.
Hab. Syria, Kaifa (coll. Kirkaldy).
E. ANGUSTIPES, Uhler, Venezuela, Puerto Cabello (Mus.
Hamburg!).
K. HAVANA, sp. nov.
Allied to crassipes, but the latter has the ultimate segment
of the intermediate tarsi slightly longer than the second, the
venter carinate, and the colouring different. R. crassipes is also
larger.
Elongate. Antennae : first segment one-half longer than the second,
which is one-seventh longer than the third, which is one-fifth longer
than the fourth ; first scarcely longer than third and fourth together.
Pronotum (inacropterous) obtusely rounded ; (apteyous) widely rounded
behind. Elytra rounded at apex, not reaching as far as the apex of
the genital segments. Anterior tibiae not dilated, <? $ . Intermediate
femora not constricted medianly ; ultimate segment of tarsi two and
two-thirds as long as penultimate. Posterior femora incrassate ; tibisB
sinuous, without a hook at apex ; ultimate segment of tarsi three and
a half times as long as penultimate. Abdomen moderately long.
Brownish black; head (more or less), and a central longitudinal
stripe on pronotum, ferruginous. Anteunfe unicolorous (not widely
palhd at base of first segment of antennte). A large silvery patch
near antero-lateral angle of pronotum. An elongate spot of base of
corium, another in the central cell, and another nearer the apex of
the elytra, silvery white ; nervures very distinct. Femora more or
less palUd, especially basally and beneath ; coxje and trochanters
pallid. Connexivum with a broad median longitudinal pale flavous
stripe. Venter dark brownish (very thickly dark yellowish pilose)
more or less pallid medianly.
<? . Posterior femora two and two-third times as long as wide,
three moderate-sized and several small spines beneath ; tibia strongly
sinuous, tuberculo-spinose beneath ; seventh abdominal segment
beneath, long laterally emarginate, medianly subtruncate, apically
depressed ; above, truncate apically.
? . Posterior femora three and a half times as long as wide ;
spinose similarly to ^ ; tibiae slightly sinuous ; seventh segment
beneath slightly roundly emarginate.
Long. 4-4-6 mill. ; lat. 1-9 mill.
Hah. Ceylon, Peradeniya (E. E. Green).
65
A LIST OF LEPIDOPTERA COLLECTED by DR. CUTHBERT
CHRISTY IN NIGERIA.
By Emily Maby Shakpe.
The insects in this collection were all taken on the banks
of the Niger, or within a few miles of the river, at various points
between Lokoja and Ilo. Those from Lokoja were mostly cap-
tured on Mount Patti, which rises abruptly behind the town for
about a thousand feet. It is thickly wooded, except on the top,
which is flat, open, grass country. At a certain spot, used by
the Imperial forces stationed at Lokoja as a flag- station and
sanatorium for convalescent officers and men, are the remains of
what may have been a small village, and round about this spot
flourishes a profusion of flowers and plants, many of which seem
to be peculiar to the locality. Here more butterflies were to be
seen in an hour than could be seen in a month at any other place
in Nigeria that I visited.
Lokoja is at the junction of the Benue Eiver with the Niger,
and is, roughly speaking, about 400 miles from the sea. Egga is
about eighty miles above Lokoja, and Jebba, the head-quarters
of the Imperial forces in Nigeria, is some 150 miles further up.
Most of the insects from Jebba were collected about the island on
which the town and Imperial camp are situated, or on Juja-rock
Island. The Juju-rock, such a prominent feature in the land-
scape at Jebba, rises from the bed of the river to a height of
300 ft. or more. It is practically a sheer cliff on all sides, and
was never explored till I succeeded, after three days' toil, in
finding a way to the summit in May, 1898. It was up to that
date the centre of much superstition and mystery, and was
talked of with dread by the natives for hundreds of miles both
up and down the river. Its summit is covered with scrub,
amongst which I noted several plants I had not seen elsewhere.
The same was the case with the butterflies, and two or three
species which are specially mentioned in the following list I saw
nowhere else. The flora and fauna of the Juju-rock at Jebba
are peculiar in many ways, and would, I am sure, well repay
anyone making them a special study.
Bajibo, Leaba, Bussa, Yelwa, and Gomba are places on or
near the river bank between Jebba and Ilo, the most northerly
station in British territory, and nearly a thousand miles from
the river's mouth. At Ilo the country is very different to what
it is lower down the river. It is less wooded, and large stretches
of open country little more than desert are frequent. The people,
too, are very different, being a much finer race, particularly the
men, who wear the flowing robes and ornaments of the Arab. In
this district, bordering upon the Western Soudan, the butterflies
66 THE ENTOMOLOGIST.
are largely represented by the Pieridae, especially by the genus
Teracolus.
The Beniie flows for most of its course through impenetrable
jungle. The town, and Niger Company's station, of Mozum is
about twenty miles from its junction with the Niger. — i C. C]
Family Danaidid^.
1. Danais alcippus (Cram.). — a, ? . Sierra Leone ; February,
1898. b-h, 3' ?. Jebba, Kiver Niger; September, October, 1898.
i,j, 3' 2. Mount Patti, Lokoja ; May, 1898. k-i^, <? ?. Ilo.
q, r, 3" 2 . Shonga ; September, 1898.
" One of the commonest butterflies all the year round, fre-
quenting the damp open parts near the river." — C. C.
2. Danais petiverana, Douhl. d- Hewits. — a, 3 • Jebba, Niger
Eiver ; October, 1898.
" Only observed on one occasion, when a dozen or more
appeared in October at one particular spot near the river. They
were difficult to catch, owing to their quick movements and rapid
flight."— C. C.
Family Satyrid^.
3. Melanitis solandra (Fahr.). — a, ? . Jebba, Niger Eiver ;
May, 1898.
4. Mycalesis milyas, Hewits.— a, 3. Jebba, Niger River;
September, 1898.
5. Mycalesis DESOLATA, Butl. — a, h, <? . Jebba, Niger Eiver;
November, 1898.
In the collection at the British Museum three specimens of
this species are recorded from the Atbara Eiver and Abyssinia.
6. Mycalesis safitza, Heivits. — a, 3 - Jebba, Niger Eiver ;
November, 1898. b, 3 . Mozum, Benue Eiver ; June, 1899.
7. Mycalesis vulgaris, Biitl.—a-c, <? . Jebba, Niger Eiver;
May, September, 1898.
8. Ypthima simplicia, Biitl. — a. Leaba ; December, 1899.
This species seems to be widely distributed, specimens being
recorded in the National Collection from Somaliland, Victoria
Nyanza, Zomba, Fwambo, and Wadelai.
9. Ypthima doleta, 7iM%.— a, 3. Jebba, Niger Eiver ; Sept-
ember, 1898. b, ? . Lolioja"; May, 1898.
10. Ypthima itonia, Hewits. — a. Shonga ; August, b. Jebba,
Niger Eiver ; October, 1898.
Family Acrjeid^.
11. AcR^A zetes [Linn.). — a, 3- Lokoja; May.
12. AcR^A Cecilia (Fabr.) .—a-d, 3 ? . Jebba, Niger Eiver;
September, October, 1898. e-g, <y ? . Ilo ; March, 1899. h, ? .
Shonga ; September.
LIST OF LEPIDOPTERA COLLECTED IN NIGERIA. 67
13. AcRiEA PSEUDEGINA, WesUv. — a-cl, (? . Lokoja ; May.
e, <y . Mount Patti, Lokoja ; May, 1899. /, g, 3- ? . Jebba ;
May, 1898. h-j, <? . Ilo. k, <? . Sierra Leone ; February, 1898.
14. AcPt;EA SKRENA {Fab)'.). — a. Leaba ; December, 1899.
b,c. Shonga; August, d-g. Jebba, Niger Eiver; September,
1898.
15. AcR^A viNiDiA, Hewits. — a-i. Jebba, Niger River ; May,
September, 1898. j. Mozum, Benue River ; June, 1899.
16. AcRiEA BONASiA (i^aZ^r.). — a. Shonga; August.
17. AcRiEA LYCiA {Fahv.). — a,b. Boussa ; December, 1898.
c-j. Shonga ; August, September.
" Acrcea lycia, A. pseudegiiia, and A. cacilia were exceedingly
common along the banks of the River Niger."— C. C.
18. Planebia gea {Fabr.). — a, b, <? . Sierra Leone ; February,
1898.
19. Planema umbra (Drury). — a, ? . Mozum, Benue River ;
June, 1899.
" Caught in an open glade in the thick jungle on the right
bank of the Benue River." — C. C.
Family NvMPHALiCiE.
20. Atella PHALANTHA (Dnw?/). — a. Shonga ; August. b~e.
Ilo; March, 1899. /. Jebba; May. g,h. Lokoja.
21. Pyrameis CARDui (Lirm.).— a-e. Jebba; October.
22. Junonia bo5pis, Trimen. — a, g- . Leaba ; December,
1899. h, 3 . Jebba ; November, c, tZ, <? 2 . Ilo ; January, 1899.
23. Junonia clelia {Cram.). — a, ? . Shonga ; August, b, c,
(? ? . Ilo ; March, 1899.
24. Junonia cebrene, Trimen. — a, 3 . Jebba ; May. b-d,
(? ? . Ilo ; January, March, 1899. e, 2 . Boussa ; December.
" Junonia boopis, J. clelia, and J. cebrene frequent the most
exposed stony and glaring hot places. They are difficult insects
to catch."— C. C.
25. Precis amestris (Drury). — a. Ilo ; March, 1899.
26. Precis trimeni {Butl.). — a. Shonga ; September.
27. 'PuBCiscv AM A. {Heivits.). — a,b. Jebba; October, November.
The species seems to be widely distributed, specimens in the
British Museum being recorded from Masailand, Nyasaland, and
Mashona.
28. Precis cbryne {Boisd.). — a, b. Shonga ; August.
29. Precis leodora {Godt.). — a. Jebba ; September.
30. Precis pelarga {Fabr.). — a. Shonga ; August.
31. Precis terea {Drury). — a,b. Sierra Leone; February,
1898. c. Lokoja, 11,000 ft. above river ; May. d, e. Jebba ;
May. /, g. Ilo ; March, 1899.
68 THE ENTOMOLOGIST.
32. Peecis orthosia {Klug). —a. Lokoja. h. Boussa ; De-
cember, c. Jebba ; May. d-g. Ilo ; March, 1899.
" Common in the thicker parts of the jungle." — C. C.
33. Hypolimnas misippus {Linn.). — a-d, ^ ?, Ilo; March,
1899. e, 3'. Boussa; January, 1898.
34. Neptidopsis ophione {Cram.). — a. Mozum, Benue Eiver;
June, 1899.
35. Byblia GOTzius {Herhst.). — a-g, <? ?. Ilo; March, 1899.
h, 3 . Jebba ; October.
36. Neptis AGATHA {Stoll.) . — a, ?. Shonga ; September.
b, 3' . Jebba ; September, 1898. c, 3 • Rabba ; November.
d, 3 . Boussa ; December.
37. Neptis MELiCERTA (Drury). — a. Ilo; March, 1899.
38. Catuna crithea {Drury). — a. Mozum, Benue River;
June, 1899.
39. Hamanumida d^dalus {Fabr.). — a, b. Ilo : January, 1899.
c. Ilo ; February, 1899. d-f. Jebba ; November, g. Boussa ;
December, h, i. Shonga ; August, j, k, S 2 . Mount Patti,
Lokoja ; June.
" Common on shady paths, settling with the wings open, thus
escaping observation unless it rises, when it is difficult to catch,
owing to its strong flight." — C. G.
40. EuPHiEDRA THEMIS (Huhi.). — a. Ilo; March, 1899.
41. EuPHJEDRA JANETTA {Biitl.).—a. Jebba ; May.
42. EuPHiEDRACROSSEi, sp. H. — 3 . Primaries differing from
the typical E. crockeri, Butler, in having a large ochre-yellow
patch on the apical area, as well as a yellowish bronze shading
along the inner margin. Secondaries : Central area rather more
uniform steel-blue, the other spots and markings not differing
from those indicated in other varieties of E. crockeri. Under
side similar to that of E. crockeri. Expanse, 2'4 in.
Hab. Mozum, Benue River ; June, 1899. Type.
This species, which belongs to the E. crockeri group, has
apparently not been named. Two specimens are in the British
Museum, one from the Cameroons, and the other from the Lower
Niger (Asaba?), collected by Dr. E. W. Crosse. In this genus
some of the species have a yellow phase, but whether this can be
attributed to a seasonal change of colour remains to be deter-
mined.
43. Charaxes ach^menes, Feld. — a, ? . Lokoja ; May.
44. Charaxes viola, Butl. — a, ? . Lokoja ; May.
45. Charaxes varanes {Cram.). — a. Ilo ; March, 1899.
(To be continued.)
69
VARIATION IN THE GENUS EREBIA.
By Geoffrey Smith.
(Continued from p. 9.)
Sufficient stress has not been laid upon the fact that when
the mean (M) of a normal scheme of distribution of certain
variations is preserved from generation to generation, the
measures of those variations will tend to converge toward that
mean. It was on this ground that the acquisition of constancy
by some character was stated to occur, when both sexes were
variable, and all prepotent tendencies to reversion were theo-
retically eliminated.
One of the properties of M of a normal scheme was stated to
be that the most probable value of any unknown measure in a
group is M. This results from the following consideration, in
the words of Prof. Galton, " that if N be one of the measures,
and U be the value of the unit in which the measure is recorded,
then the number of measures that fall between iN — |- U) and
(N + J U) is greatest when N — M." Or from a somewhat dif-
ferent point of view, the idea of mediocre may be extended away
from the mean so as to include more measures ; but the idea of
extreme cannot be so extended, since by the nature of things it
is strictly limited. It must also be remembered that as a matter
of fact in a normal scheme the mediocre is always the commonest
condition, and that the numbers of individuals possessing the
various degrees of the character on each side of the mean (M)
graduate away, and become less as the extremes are approached.
Hence it is that in schemes of distribution applied to the same
group from generation to generation a centripetal tendency would
hold good, with the final theoretical result that the mean would
be established as a constant measure of the character under con-
sideration. Moreover, this tendency to converge toward the
mean is increased in the process of sexual reproduction ; for, if
we take an extreme male, the chance is small of its pairing with
a female which is extreme in the same direction, as against the
combined chances of its pairing with a female either of the oppo-
site extreme or of the mediocre. In this way, too, the extremes
would tend to merge into the mediocre. Of course, all these
considerations only hold absolutely, supposing that the scheme
is normal, that the selection of mates is made entirely by chance,
and also ex hypothesi that the numbers of the sexes are pro-
portional.
We will now go on to consider the numerical proportions of
the sexes with reference to the genus Erehia.
In chap. viii. part ii. of the 'Descent of Man' (2nd edition),
Darwin has written on this subject : the point of view taken is
that normally equal numbers of the sexes should be produced,
70 THE ENTOMOLOGIST.
but that various circumstances tend to upset this equal propor-
tion. Among men, mammals in general, birds, fish, &c., various
conditions occur from equality to great preponderance of one sex
or the other, and equally various circumstances seem to deter-
mine these conditions. Among Lepidoptera various conditions
in the numerical proportions also occur ; in silk-moths the
females are said to be bred in excess ; in Ehopalocera the general
impression of collectors is that males are produced in excess.
We are not here concerned with the actual production of males
or females, but of their arrival to the state of sexual maturity ;
so that what we have to examine is this impression of collectors.
Two views may be taken — (1) that owing to differences in habits,
times of appearance, &c., of the two sexes, this impression of
collectors is a mistaken one ; (2) that this impression is a true
one. The former view was taken by Mr. Stainton, the latter by
Mr. Bates, in the discussion before the Entomological Society in
1868. It seems probable that there is truth in both views, so
long as each is not applied to Rhopalocera in general. No doubt
if the two sexes of a species have dift'erent habits, &c., collectors
who are ignorant of those habits would very likely gain a wrong
impression of the numerical proportion of the sexes ; but if such
a disparity in the habits does not exist, it is an unwarrantable
position to ignore the repeated assertions of collectors. Now,
with the genus Erehia I do not think there is any great difference
in the habits of the sexes. Whenever I have taken a female of
the species that I have collected (and I have taken many), I have
done so generally unwittingly until the capture has been made,
and usually I have caught females flying on the same ground
with males, from which they are indistinguishable in general
appearance, flight, &c., and conspicuousness. Then again, even
supposing that the females do lie hid more than the males, or
occur at different periods, it would be rash to suppose that a
collector of even moderate attainments does not state or even
understate the numerical disproportion of the sexes by the col-
lections he brings home ; for, knowing the supposed rareness of
the females, he will always retain them when they are caught,
whereas he will continually pass by or let go the commoner
males. Considering the abundance of many species of Erehia, I
think that the collections brought home probably understate the
numerical disproportion of the mature sexes.
The proportions given to the species considered afterwards
are derived from my collection, and from the collections in the
British Museum. Here again the risk run is one of under-
statement, for in the latter collection many specimens have been
ejected, and these will be sure to have been mostly males, owing
to the scarcity of females for representing types.
In applying the methods, that have now been discussed at
some length, to actual data derived from the genus Erehia, my
VARIATION IN THE GENUS EREBIA. 71
object is to discover whether those data give any evidence as
regards the hypothesis, that inequality in the numerical propor-
tions of the sexes, when coupled with variability in the pre-
ponderating sex, tends towards continued fluctuation of the
variable character. Of what nature, then, will the data be that
will lend support to this hypothesis? It is a matter of very
general observation that when the ordinary individual variations
of a species are thrown into a scheme of distribution, the curve
derived from them is normal. The essential property of a
normal curve is that it falls away symmetrically on either side of
M by regular gradations, the numbers becoming gradually less
below, and more above the mean. Curves A and B in Fig. 1
are therefore not truly normal, but curve C is. [See Entom.
Oct. 1901, p. 278.]
Now, on the theory under discussion, we would not expect the
individual variations to fall into a normal curve, if the sexes are
disproportional, &c. ; there should be breaks in the continuity of
the slope, if the principle in question has come into play. If, of
course, we take individuals from many different areas, or from
one very large continuous area, we might obtain a normal curve,
owing to the whirligig of chance having brought in his revenges,
and filled up the breaks of continuity in one area with individuals
from another ; but if we take individuals from one somewhat
confined area, we should expect to find these breaks. By breaks
in the continuity of the slope, breaks in the actual series of
variations are not necessarily implied. The latter breaks,
namely, when some variations are omitted altogether, might be
accounted for by natural selection ; but when in some confined
area all the variations do occur, but not in such numerical pro-
portions as to fall into a normal scheme, then the facts are most
easily accounted for by the hypothesis that has been framed. A
confirmatory test besides this of abnormality of slope would be
in the M of individuals of some confined area not corresponding
to M of other areas, taken separately or combined. The method
then will be to fix on some species with numerical disproportion
of sexes, to select some character of that species which is variable
in the preponderating sex, then to determine if that character
falls into a normal scheme or not when a group of individuals is
considered that has been derived from some one confined area,
and also if the M of those from the confined area is the same as
the M of other areas taken separately or combined. The con-
clusions arrived at from the following data must be accepted
tentatively, as my material is not large enough to ensure any-
thing like accuracy.
(To be continued.)
72 THE ENTOMOLOGIST.
GYNANDROUS EXAMPLES OP AMPHIDA8Y8 BETULARIA.
Mr. Albert Harrison has been good enough to entrust to
me six of the seven gynandrous A. betidaria that he bred from a
batch of ova obtained from a female specimen taken in the New
Forest in June, 1900 (Entom. xxxiv. 203, 349). These specimens
have been submitted to Sir George F. Hampson for examination.
As it was not permissible to mutilate the insects in any way,
attention has necessarily been confined to the secondary sexual
characters, and the results of his examination have been tabulated
by Sir George as follows : —
No. 1. Right side (^ antenna, frenulum, and retinaculum. Left
side ? antenna, frenulum, and retinaculum.
No. 2. Right side g^ antenna, frenulum, and retinaculum. Left
side ? antenna, frenulum, and retinaculum.
No. 3. Right side antenna unipectiuate, 2 frenulum, ^ retinaculum.
Left side ^ antenna, 5 frenulum, ^ retinaculum.
No. 4. Right side <? antenna, ? frenulum and retinaculum. Left
side ? antenna, ? frenulum and retinaculum.
No. 5. Right side (^ antenna, ^ frenulum and retinaculum. Left
side ? antenna, 2 frenulum and retinaculum.
No. 6. Right side 2 antenna, <y frenulum and retmaculum. Left
side (? antenna, ^ frenulum and retinaculum.
From this table we see that, as regards external organs,
Nos. 1, 2, and 5 are each male on the right side and female on
the left side. I find that the wings themselves also exhibit the
same sexual differences, and if one may judge from the appear-
ance of the anal segments of the body it would seem that these
are also " half and half."
No. 4 appears to be a female in all respects except that it
has a male antenna on the right side.
No, 3 has the wings on each side of equal size. There is a
well-formed male antenna on the left side, but the right antenna
is that proper to the female with some short pectinations along
its lower side, an abnormal position.
Except that it has a female antenna on the right side, No. 6
appears to be a male specimen, and comes nearest to being a
counterpart of either Nos. 1, 2, or 5. It is not, however, the
exact reverse of either, because the frenulum and retinaculum
on the right side are male in character.
EiCHARD South.
73
NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS.
Hawk Moth Pupating in Branches of Trees. — During February
larvfe of Panacra lupiaria were common here on Pisonia aculeata. One
large creeper, which clambered up and over a tall tree, was quite de-
nuded of its foliage by them. Whilst examining some shrubs and young
trees which grew immediately underneath, I discovered many of the
larvae spun up therein; continuing my search, I found many more
changing, and an occasional pupa, in the branches. Some were close
to the ground, others being seven or eight feet therefrom, probably
many more were higher up. Though larvfB of many of the Queens-
land Sphingidae are known to me, this is the only species which I
have observed to pupate above ground. I have referred to several of
our experienced entomologists, and none of them have known of
Sphingidse pupating in trees. — F. P. Dodd ; Warburton Street, North
Ward, Townsville, Queensland.
Scent Organs of Hepialid^. — During a lengthened experience
with the southern Hepialid^e, I have always noticed a powerful and
somewhat pleasant scent emanating from the male of Charagia
daphnandri (should be scotti), and was for some time unable to locate
the organ from which it i^roceeded, but finally discovered that the
large hair-like tufts on the diminutive hind legs of this species gave
forth the scent. It will be noticed that each of these hairs is enclosed
from the base to some little distance above in a delicate skin, forming
a gland. Tliese glands proved to contain a yellowish fluid, the fluid
possessing the strong scent so noticeable in freshly emerged and
handled males of this species. In ramsayi, cyanochlora, splendens, and
others, the tufts of the male are much smaller, and I have not noticed
any pronounced odour arising from any of these. During the past
two years I have bred out a series of the magnificent mirabilis of
Rothschild, which is the largest and generally considered the finest of
Queensland Hepialidae ; the male has the tufts largely developed, and
they, too, give forth a powerful and sweet scent, which is also secreted
at the base of the hairs. The scent from these two species does not
finally depart until long after the insects have been placed away in
the store-boxes. — F. P. Dodd.
Bat Killing a Moth at Sugar. — While my sister. Miss Harvey-
Jellie, was sugaring in a garden in Essex last September, a large bat
swooped down just as she was approaching a tree, and, in the full
light of the lantern, settled on the patch of sugar, demolished a
M. brassiccB, and flew away. — B. Harvey- Jellie; Moorside, Hartlepool.
Variety of the Moth Hypsa substracta (Walker). — Having bred
a very large number of specimens of H. substracta last year, and
several this, among which were a good many of the banded variety,
and also a few other examples, I think a specimen which emerged
to-day, September 8th, is worth noting. Tlae fore wings are quite
typical, but the right hind wing has a distinct band, which is totally
different from the ordinary banded form ; the other hind wing is like the
type, all yellow. Besides those I have bred myself I have also seen a
great number of others, but nothing like the one now recorded. The
ENTOM. — MARCH, 1902. G
74 THE ENTOMOLOGIST.
specimen, which is a male, was bred from a pupa found by me about
three weeks ago, and was not reared in confinement. The insect is
now in the possession of P. T. Lathy, Esq., Enfield, England, to
whom I forwarded it. — G. F. Leigh ; Musgrave Koad, Durban, Natal.
Hymenoptera-Aculeata of the Oxford District. — The report of
the Oxfordshire Natural History Society and Field Club for 1900
(recently received) is accompanied by a list of the Aculeate Hymeno-
ptera of the Oxford district. The species enumerated number two
hundred and eight, and comprise ten Heterogyna, sixty-two Fossores,
fifteen Diploptera, and one hundred and twenty-one Anthophila.
List of British Diptera (2nd Edition). — Even if the addition to
the faunal lists of some three hundred species, and still more numerous
important emendations and alterations, had not indicated the pressing
need of a new edition of Mr. Verrall's invaluable list of British Diptera,
it appears that the original edition was exhausted, and that a reprint
had become a necessity. Although the author is not yet satisfied
with the list as regards accuracy and completeness, we are sure that
this revised edition will be gladly welcomed by dipterists. In the
preface, reference is made to the increased interest in British Diptera,
and the hope is expressed that this may lead to the production of
more perfect lists than is possible at present of such families as the
Cecidomyidae and the Mycetophilidae.
CAPTURES AND FIELD REPORTS.
COLIAS HYALE AND SpHINX CONVOLVULI IN WILTSHIRE IN 1901. 1 wisll
to record the capture here last year, on Sept. 18th, of a female
specimen of Colitifi hi/ale, which I released, upon identification. This
is the first and only one I have seen in this neighbourhood during
many years. I also caught a female Sphinx convolvuli on the evening
of Sept, 23rd, which I restored to liberty ; and I noticed this same
insect, or others of its kind, on several subsequent evenings, at the
flowers of Nicotiana affinis. — (Rev.) C. A. Sladen ; The Rectory, Alton
Barnes, Pewsey, Feb. 14th, 1902.
Ophiodes lunaris : a Correction. — In my record of the above
species [ante, p. 25), I should have said that it was exhibited at the
City of London Entomological Society on Dec. 3rd, 1901, not at the
Entomological Society of London on the 6th. — T. Weight ; Heath
Side, Warrington, Jan. 9th, 1901.
Odonata, &c., at Camberley, Surrey. — Libellida depressa, L. qnadri-
macnlata, Sijmpetrmn striolatum, ^EscJina cijanea, Lestes sponsa, Agrion
paella, and Pyrrhosoma nymphnla were very plentiful at Camberley in
1900. I got several specimens of Cordnlcyuster annulatus, and three
of Orthetnun candescens, two of which were caught in an orchard. Of
Coieoptera, I met with Cicindela canrpestris, Cryptocephalus aureolus, and
Cetonia aurata continually, and a gardener gave me thirteen specimens
of Geotrupes stercorarim, males and females, which he had caught on
the way to Bagshot. — M. Pallis ; Tato'i, Aigburth Drive, Sefton Park,
Jan. 4th, 1902.
CAPTURES AND FIELD REPORTS. 75
Haepella bracteella. — A specimen of this rare species was
brought to me for identification by Mr. J. T. Houghton, who took it
in this town on June 23rd of last year. — (Miss) E. Maude Aldekson;
Park House, Worksop.
Notes on the Season, 1901 : Makch-June. — On the whole, collect-
ing has, I think, been satisfactory during the past season. In the
immediate neighbourhood a few unusual species turned up. Colias
hyale was seen at Hither Green, Sept. 22ud, and others were heard of
from there. An example of Vanessa polychlows was found indoors, as
already reported, whilst both broods of Cyaniris argiolus were well
represented. A single Sphinx convolvuli was brought to me Sept. 25th,
which was taken at rest on some clothing in a yard near Lee station.
It was unfortunately in battered condition, owing to having been kept
alive in a cigar-box for three days. The usual species turned up, and
single specimens of Eupithecia succenturiata and Cosmia diffinis (Grove
Park) were taken. A black female Amphidasys betnlaria was secured,
in cop. with a typical male, and was kept for eggs, of which she
deposited a large number. Some of the larvae fed up well, and we
now have a good number of pupfe. A single larva of lodis vernaria was
taken at Grove Park. — F. M. B. Carr ; 46, Handen Eoad, Lee, S.E.
The Past Season, 1901. — The season of 1901 which has just closed
I have again found, with one or two exceptions, a good one for butter-
flies. On referring to notes, I find the first specimen observed was
one of Vanessa io, at Clifton, Bristol, on March 12th, no doubt tempted
forth from its winter quarters by a warm day. Goyuptenjx rhammi
appeared on the 13th of same month. The weather being again colder
after this, Pieris rapa, was not noted before April 21st, and on the 25th
Lycmia argiolus turned up. On the Cotswold Hills, in Gloucestershire,
in May, I was pleased to find several kinds in fair abundance, as Euchlo'e
cardamines, Polyomniatus phlceas, Lycmia icarus, Thecla rubi, Argynnis
euphrosyne, Thanaos tages, &c., and the "whites." During June and
July, in North Wales, Merionethshire, Argynnis aglaia and A. adippe
were frequently seen in favourable situations; also A. selene and,
locally, Melitasa artemis {aurinia) and Ccenonymplia pamphilns were in
abundance amongst the coarse grass on the uplands. Vanessa urticcR
was very frequently seen, and I was pleased to notice several specimens
of Polygonia c-alhum, not far from Barmouth, and the " whites " were
very abundant. Thecla quercus, also, was continually seen flitting over
the oak trees, this, as is often the case, especially when the sun was
declining in the afternoon. On passing through Bath, the second week
in August, I found one evening, on one of the hill slopes, Lycmia icarus
in greater abundance at rest than I think I have ever before noticed it.
Without moving, several dozens might be counted on the stems of grass
or plantain — so many as four specimens might be seen on a single
grass stem alone. In West Somerset, at the end of August and
through September, the butterflies then out have been generally seen,
as V. urticcB, Chryaophanus phlceas, L. icarus, T. quercus, &c.,but atalanta
I have not found so commonly as last season in Devonshire. Pararge
egeria was noted so late as October 17tli, and a specimen each of V. io
and G. phlceas were the last butterflies of the season of 1901 ; these
were seen on October 23rd, During the whole year not a single speci-
76 THE ENTOMOLOGIST.
men of Vanessa cardui or Colias edusa lias been noticed in the places
above mentioned. My observations of the moths have been mostly
confined to day collecting, excepting examining on one or two evenings
many plants of the red valerian in North Wales, to which the common
moths came plentifully, as Xylophasia polyoduji, M. hrassica, Hadena
dentina, &c. ; the last seems generally common in many parts of Wales.
The larvae, pupse, and imago of Zi/i/ceiia Jilipendulce were extremely
abundant near Barmouth — the pupte spun up in all kinds of places,
even on rocks, and wood pahngs ; the imagines were most constant in
their markings, excepting an occasional one with the spots rather
smaller. Macroglossa stellatarnm occasionally visited the red valerian
in the same district, and later on I have now and then seen this insect
in West Somerset, where, also, larvfe and pupae of Acherontia atiupos
have been found not unfrequently. The larvae of the " whites," and,
in one place apparently, of Pionca foiiicalu have been very destructive.
I rnay, perhaps, add a word here for that often much abused bird, the
house sparrow — of his usefulness, often forgotten, in destroying both
the larvae and imagines of troublesome insects. This season alone I
have seen him devouring the larvffi of Malacotioma (B.) neustria, and
Clieimutuhia brumata, and imagines of Pldotjophora meticidosa and
Triphmna jyyomiba. The dry, warm season appears to have been
favourable to wasps ; and in June and part of July the little chafer-
beetle, the Welsh " Coch y bouddhu," appeared in swarms near Bar-
mouth, on the uplands. I noticed one day the surface of a tarn
dotted over with struggling victims, and the bracken and low nut-
bushes were at times covered with them. — T. B. Jefferys; Minehead,
Nov. 4th, 1901.
SOCIETIES.
Entomological Society of London. — February 5th, 1902. — The
Eev. Canon Fowler, M.A., F.L.S., President, in the chair. — The Pre-
sident announced that he had appointed Mr. F. DuCane Godman,
D.C.L., F.E.S., Professor E. B. Poulton, M.A., D.Sc, F.R.S., and
Dr. David Sharp, M.A., F.R.S., F.L.S., as Vice-Presidents for the
Session. Dr. Norman Joy, of Bradfield, near Pleading, was elected a
Fellow of the Society. — Professor Poulton exhibited with lantern a
series of slides belonging to Professor Meldola, made from actual
specimens by the three-colour process, illustrative of mimicry in
British and exotic Lepidoptera and Hymenoptera. He also exhibited
the several specimens from which the lantern-slides had been pre-
pared. A discussion on the subject took place, in which Col. Swinhoe,
Mr. F. Merrifield, Dr. Chapman, Mr. C. 0. Waterhouse, the Rev. F.
D. Morice, and Col. Yerbury took part, Mr. Verrall observing that in
the case of Diptera they mimicked other groups rather than were
mimicked by them, while there were even cases in which flies fed on
dragonflies, and not vice versa, as was usual. With regard to the
protective value of the scent-glands present in groups allied to the
Chalcosiinffi, and conspicuous also in Anthroccra, Mr. J. W. Tutt said
it was possible that they might have something to do with edibility or
SOCIETIES. 77
otherwise of the species. The glands, though better developed in the
male, existed also in the female. Professor Meldola, however, supposed
them to be characters of sexual attraction, as laid down by Fritz
Muller, and therefore not affecting the question of distastefulness. —
Mr. C. G. Barrett exhibited a series of the perfect insect of Gluttula
fiisca, Hpsn., together with ears of maize (locally called mealies),
showing the damage done by the well-grown larva of the species,
which lives in the hrst place in the stem, eating the pith from the
ground, and afterwards attacking the cobs, and eating from the inside
into the bases of the unripe grains, which then change colour and
shrivel up. He also exhibited: Gynaniza main (male). Walk., and a
drawing of the larva ; Nudaurelia menippe (male), Feld., and drawing
of larvffi ; Bombi/comorpha hifascia, Hpsn., circlet of eggs, cocoons, and
figure of larva ; Phissana flava, Feld., food, cocoon, and figure of larva;
Gonometa postica (male and female). Walk., cocoon (poisonous), and
male and female larva figures; Henacha smilax (male and female),
Feld., pupa, cocoon, figures of larva, and an enlarged segment to show
markings; Metarctia rafesccns, Walk., and figure of larva; TcRniopyga
sylva}ia,Wsdk., and figures of larva ; liigema ornata, Walk., and figures
of larva — all the foregoing specimens and figures being received from
Miss Frances Barrett, Buntiugville, Transkei, South Africa. — Mr. W.
L. Distant exhibited two specimens of Coleoptera which had reached
him alive from the Transvaal — one Anthia thoracica, Thunb., now
dead, the other, Braclujcems granosus, Gyll., still living, sent by Mr.
Eobert Service, of Dumfries, who received them from Sergt. Peter
Dunn, of the volunteer company of the Scottish Borderers, which
regiment was in the vicinity of Krugersdorp. The genus Anthia ex-
tends to the Southern Palaearctic region, and there seems little doubt
that these species could be easily acclimatized there. All they require
at home is the run of a good palm or orchid-house. — Mr. E. Adkin
exhibited a series of Acidalia acersata. The parent moth (a banded
female, the male parent not being known) was taken at Lewisham in
June, 1900. Of the resulting larvae about one-half fed up rapidly, and
produced imagines in the autumn of the same year — a very unusual
circumstance in the habits of the species; the remainder hybernated
and produced imagines in June of tlie following year, thus occupying
the normal time in completing their metamorphoses. The proportion
of individuals following the female parent in the two portions of the
brood were almost equal, the percentages being approximately fifty-
three banded in the autumnal emergence as against fifty-eight in the
spring, but in point of sex the disparity was great, over 65 per cent, of
the autumn moths being males as against fully 72 per cent, females
in the spring portion. — Mr. G. C. Champion exhibited long series of
Leptura stragulata, Germ., and Strangaiia pubescens, Fabr., from the
pine-forests of Aragon and Castile, showing the great variation in
colour of the two species in these districts, whereas the allied forms
occurring in the same places, viz., L. rubra, Linn., L. distigma,
Charp., L. unipunctata, Fabr., and L. sangiduolenta, Linn., were per-
fectly constant; also Dennestes aurichaicem, Kiist., which he and Dr.
Chapman had found everywhere in abundance in the old nests of the
processionary-moth (Cnethocampa processionea, Linn.) on the pines in
these forests. — Dr. T. A. Chapman exhibited in illustration of his
78 THE ENTOMOLOGIST.
paper " On a new subfamily of Pyralid^e," living larvae of Hypotia
coj-ticalis, Schiff, as well as preserved larvfe, pupa-cases, imagines, and
prepared wings to show the neuration of tliat species. — Mr. Edward
Meyrick, B.A., F.Z.S., communicated "Descriptions of new Australa-
sian Lepidoptera." — Mr. W. F. Kirby, F.L.S., communicated a
" Eeport on a Collection of African Locustidfe, chiefly from the Trans-
vaal, made by Mr. W. L. Distant." — H, Rowland-Brown, Hon. Sec.
South London Entomological and Natural History Society. —
January mh, 1902.— Mr. W. J. Lucas, B.A., F.E.S., Vice-President, in
the chair. — Mr. Tonge, Eedhill, Surrey, was elected a member. —
Mr. Hewitt exhibited a specimen of the rare Homopteron, Cicadetta
viontana, taken flying in Stubby Copse, New Forest, on July 7th. — Mr.
R. Adkin, five specimens of Melanlppe yaliata, which emerged on
Dec. 8th last, in a cage outdoors and protected only from rain and
direct sunshine. The ova were laid towards the end of August. — Mr.
McArthur, specimens of Triphmia comes, bred on Dec. 26th and 27th,
from ova laid in July by an Isle of Lewis female. — Mr. Main, slides
made by himself of the larvfe of Sumia cecropia, and of Aniphidasys
hetnlaria ; of the imago of Pleris napi, drying its wings after emergence
from the chrysalis case ; and of a batch of ova of Macrothylacia rubi
on a sprig of heather.
January 23/7/. — Annual Meeting, Mr. F. Noad Clark, Vice-President,
in the chair. — The Twenty-ninth Annual Report was read, and showed
that the Society was in a very satisfactory condition, both in member-
ship and finances ; and had carried on with much success its educa-
tional and scientific work. The present number of members is 174,
and the balance-sheet showed a very fair balance, with no liabilities. —
The following is a list of the Officers and Council elected for the ensuing
year : — President, F. Noad Clark ; Vice-Presidents, H. S. Fremlin,
M.R.O.S., F.E.S. ; E.^ Step, F.L.S. ; Treasurer, T. W. Hall, F.E.S.;
Librarian, H. A. Sauze; Curator, W. West; Hon. Secretaries, Stanley
Edwards, F.L.S., F.E.S. , Hy. J. Turner, F.E.S. ; Council, W. J.
Ashdown, J. H. Carpenter, F.E.S., T. A. Chapman, M.D., F,E.S. ;
A. Harrison, F.C.S., F.L.S. ; W. J. Lucas, B.A., F.E.S. ; H. Main,
B.Sc, F.E.S., and J. W. Tutt, F.E.S.— Mr. R. Adkin exhibited a long
series of Acidalia aversata, and read notes on their life-history and
variation. — Mr. Garrett, a living specimen of Dasychira pudibunda,
which had just emerged in the open. — Dr. Chapman, forms illustra-
tive of the geographical races in Spain and Switzerland of the butter-
flies Polyommatus corydon, Lyccena daman, and L. hylas. — Hy. J.
Turner, Hon. Rep. Sec.
Birmingham Entomological Society. — December 16th, 1901. — Mr.
G. T. Bethune-Baker, President, in the chair. — Mr. A. H. Martineau
showed Hymenoptera from Tubney, near Oxford, in Berks, a sandy
locality ; they included Cleptes pallipes, Crabro palmarius, and Nyssa
dimidiatus. — Mr. A. D. Imms showed empty cocoons and pupa-shells
of (Ecojjhora sulphurella, from Moseley. — Mr. G. T. Bethune-Baker, a
collection of Liptenre and Pentilffi, subfamilies of the Lycfenidfe, from
South Africa, which are remarkably mimetic ; some were strikingly
like Acraeidse ; others were very like Pieridfe, like some Geometridas
and many other groups of Lepidoptera, the resemblance being in
OBITUARY. 79
various degrees of perfection, in some cases almost perfect. There
seemed no explanation for the resemblances to some species, such as
some of the Geometrid forms. — Mr. C. J. Wainwright, a small collec-
tion of Chrysids, including Chrysis viridula, from Wyre Forest ; C.
sHccincta, from St. Ives, Cornwall ; Hedi/chridmm roseuni, from West
Runton, Norfolk ; Ellampns caruleus, from West Runton ; and West
Hide, near Hereford; and Chri/sis pustulosa, from West Hide. — Colbran
J. Wainwright, Hon. Sec.
RECENT LITERATURE.
Insect Life : Souvenirs of a Naturalist — J.-H Fabre, D.-es-Sc. Trans-
lated from the French. By the Author of ' Mademoiselle Mori.'
With a Preface by D. Sharp, M.A., F.R.S. Pp. 320. London :
Macmillan and Co. 1901.
A TRANSLATION generally declares itself as such ; this one does not.
Possibly this is due to the fact that, as Mr. Sharp says, Fabre is a
difficult writer to translate. The book before us, which pictures to its
readers the habits of a few beetles and Hymenoptera, is a translation
of the first volume of Fabre's ' Souvenirs Entomologiques,' of which
there are now seven series. If all are as interesting as this volume,
we hope the rest may soon be presented to us in English garb. The
writer is a genuine field-naturalist, and has a charming way of giving
the details of his observations in such a way that the reader almost
fancies he is making the observations for himself. The ingenuity,
too, with which experiments in the field are made to assist the writer
in his observations, takes hold of one and keeps his attention fixed in
no ordinary manner. There are sixteen full-page pictures, but,
though the insects pourtrayed on them are good, we hardly care for
the style ; this, however, is perhaps only a matter of taste.
W. J. L.
OBITUARY.
Charles Lionel de Niceville belonged to a noble Huguenot
family, and was born at Bristol in 1852. In the year 1876 he pro-
ceeded to India, where he commenced the formation of a collection of
butterflies, which he sold to the Asiatic Society of Calcutta some years
afterwards. He travelled extensively in various parts of India, and at
the time of his death had amassed one of the finest private collections
of the butterflies of that country, which, we understand, has- been
purchased by the Indian Museum for Rs. 20,000 (about £1300). His
first published papers were issued in conjunction with the late Prof.
Wood-Mason, but he also published a great number of lists, with
descriptions and illustrations of numerous new species of the butterflies
of various parts of India, chiefly in the Journal of the Asiatic Society
of Bengal, and in the Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society.
But his most important work was the ' Butterflies of India, Burmah
80 THE ENTOMOLOGIST.
and Ceylon,' of which three volumes — including the whole of the
families Nymphalid^e, Lemoniidae, and Lyctenidffi — -appeared from 1881
to 1890. The first volume was by Capt. G. L. F. Marshall and Lionel
de Niceville, but the remainder were by de Niceville only. It is much
to be regretted that this valuable work remains a fragment. Sub-
sequently, Mr. de Niceville was appointed Government Entomologist,
Indian Museum ; and it was while engaged in official investigcitions in
the Terai, near Darjeeling, that he contracted the fever of which he
died, at Calcutta, on Dec. 3rd, 1901. His death came as a shock to
his numerous friends in India and Europe, and is a great loss to the
cause of Indian entomology. — W. F. K.
Major Alfred Ficklin. — On February 4th, at the comparatively
early age of sixty-three. Major Ficklin succumbed to an attack of
apoplexy, after an illness of but a few days' duration. As an
entomologist he was essentially a practical one, and few perhaps knew
better than he the collecting-grounds of north Surrey, and what they
were able to produce in the way of Lepidoptera. Field-naturalists,
therefore, of tiie south of London will miss greatly from their ranks
his well-known figure. Major Ficklin was almost or quite one of the
very first members of the South London Entomological and Natural
History Society, of which he was President in 1880, and it is, perhaps,
amongst members of that Society that he was best known, and by
them his genial company and quaint entomological and fishing yarns
(for he was a fisherman, too) will not soon be forgotten. It was his
great delight to assist beginners in Entomology, and the members of
a school Natural History Society in Kingston-on-Thames, where he so
long resided, will, indeed, miss from their meetings and excursions one
who was so expert a breeder of insects, so diligent a collector, and who
possessed withal a manner so entertaining and so capable of winning
the hearts of boys. Tlie pursuit of Entomology, however, did not claim
the whole of Major Ficklin's spare time. He was an artist of no
mean order, and to his education at a school in one of the loveliest parts
of the Rhine valley may be due the development of his artistic taste,
and perhaps also we may here find the reason why he delighted to
paint scenes on the rugged Cornwall coasts. On these painting
excursions time was found for entomology, too, and it was under these
circumstances that he made acquaintance with the Cornish form of
Dianthecia Inteago, which some entomologists have thought sufficiently
distinct to need a varietal name, and have therefore termed Y&v.jicJdini.
But even entomology and art did not exhaust the energies of Major
Ficklin ; for from August, 1860, he had been connected with the
Kingston Volunteers, and from 1884 till his resignation in 1898 he was
their commanding oflficer, while for many years during his long service
he was one of the best shots of the battalion. Major Ficklin leaves
behind him to regret his loss a widow, a daughter, and two sons, the
elder of whom bids fair to keep up his father's reputation as an ento-
mologist and an artist. — W. J. L.
THE ENTOMOLOaiST
Vol. XXXV.] APEIL, 1902. [No. 467.
THE CLASSIFICATION OF GRACILARIA AND ALLIED
GENERA.*
By T. a. Chapman, M.D., P.E.S.
I DESIRE in these notes to point out that certain genera which
I call collectively the Gracilariadffi are connected together by
certain very definite characters of their larvae and pupse, and by
the special nature of these characters are equally cut off and
separated from certain other genera with which all our sys-
tematists, up to Staudinger, or rather Eebel, following his pre-
decessors, have more or less mixed them.
These genera are Gracilaria, Ornix, and Coriscium as one
subgroup, Lithocolletis as another, and Phyllocnistis as a third,
together with several non-European genera, this group being
much more abundantly represented in x\merica than Europe.
As a subsidiary point, I associate Lyonetia, Cemiostoma, and
Bedellia as a very natural group, crisply marked off by pupal
characters from all other forms, with Phyllohrostis as probably
representing a connecting form.
This being so, it is of course merely a corollary that Tischeria
and Bucculatrix must find their proper place somewhere else,
and not in association with these two groups or families.
I hardly know whether classification founded in earlier stages
has still to fight for recognition ; I hope not — I may merely say
that where good characters are to be found in the earlier stages,
and none in the imagines for classification, then classification by
such characters is imperative. Classification by any one character
or by any one stage is liable to be very erroneous, and any true
='= Read before the City of London Entomological Society, March 18th,
1902. Mr. J. Hartley Durrant has very kindly looked through these notes*
I mention this in order to make grateful acknowledgment, and to indicate
that no gross errors of bibliography or nomenclature occur in them, but of
course without for a moment desiring to make him responsible for any of
my heresies. — T. A. G.
ENTOM. — APRIL, 1902. S
82 THE ENTOMOLOGIST.
classification will be supported by every fact that we can observe,
whether it be a fact of habit or of structure, of the larva, or of
the imago.
Every fact that tends to group species together may be proof
of relationship, probably is, but it may be an instance of what is
familiar to all as convergence. Every f-act that separates two
species unquestionably separates them. Whether specifically,
generically, or more profoundly, will usually depend on its
agreement or otherwise with other similar facts, as much as on
its own apparent importance. In any case of two groups being so
separated the presumption is strong that the relationships
within each group are closer than of any members of one group
to any of the others.
The great and very frequent exception to this is where two
or more groups split up by a differentiation common to all of
them, usually in some character that is liable to great variation
under frequently occurring changes of environment. As an ex-
treme case, admitting no doubt, I might illustrate by saying that
many species of Lepidoptera have pale and melanic races. No
one would suggest that the pale races all belong to one family or
genus, and all the melanic ones to another. Or, we might say
that all species having apterous females belong to one family.
This is not so absurd an illustration as one might suppose, since
I fancy there are still to be found entomologists who think Psyche
and Orgyia are very closely related, practically on this ground
only.
It is but recently that the Arctiad nature of the Syntomids
has been fully acknowledged, and their resemblance to Anthro-
cerids (Zygsenids) admitted to be convergent only. Whilst the
likeness that obtains between the Nolidae and Lithosiadae appears
strong enough to deceive the very elect.
The objections that are raised to consideration of the earlier
stages in classification include two that I may allude to. The
first is usually expressed in something of this form — Is not the
imago the more complete and evolved form, and ought we not
therefore to classify by it, and not by the larva or pupa ? This
proposition is open to two serious comments. The first takes
note that the objector considers that classification is to be founded
on one stage only, probably on one character, or at most on a
very few characters, and, having so made his classification,
anything that contradicts it in any way is necessarily wrong.
The second comment is — he assumes that the upholder of the
use of the earlier stages in classification possesses precisely the
same narrow views, and is going to classify, say, by some larval
character, and flout everything that does not agree with his
results. The only excuse he has is, of course, that a certain
element of this nature must always exist. Life is short and art
is long, but science is longer still, and so we must all specialize,
CLASSIFICATION OF GRACILARIA AND ALLIED GENERA. 83'
and inevitably fall victims in some degree to our more or less
narrow outlook.
Another objection raised is, that we cannot classify by early
stages, because of our ignorance of them in so many instances.
This would be a valid objection were it the case that the demand
was to ignore the imago. Such an imputation is, however, pure
delusion. All that is proposed is that all the light that the
earlier stages throw on the relationships of species shall be used,
where we know them ; that what it tells us about a shall be
accepted, and not ignored, because it happens to be silent
about h.
There is little doubt that the value of a knowledge of the
early stages for classification became very much neglected in
the eighties and early nineties, probably in consequence of the
enormous numbers of new species of exotic Lepidoptera con-
stantly coming to hand and being constantly described with
often no idea whatever of their earlier stages. The same causes
are no doubt still very active in the same direction, but some-
thing is being done in the opposite direction by not a few active
workers.
The truth being that we require every scrap of knowledge
that we can get, about every species ; that the early stages are
quite as important as the imaginal, as illustrating relationships,
probably often more than less so ; but in any case, being further
information, they often guide us readily in cases where imaginal
indications are obscure, and must always be useful in checking
imaginal results and enabling us to see whether we have correctly
interpreted imaginal facts.
It is because facts in the earlier stages are very pointed and
definite in separating Gracilariadae and Lyonetiadae from each
other and from other genera that I have selected them, partly to
illustrate this point, but chiefly to secure a better classification
of those families as a subject for this paper.
The characters of the Gracilariadae that I propose to deal
with are two — one larval, the other pupal.
The larval character is the very peculiar modification of the
mouth parts that exists in all the species in their first two
instars, continuing for further instars in some species. In all —
even in Phi/llocnistis — changing suddenly at one moult to the
ordinary form. In Phyllocnistis, the third moult is of this
character, but the mouth parts are now useless for feeding, and
only available for spinning the cocoon.
The pupal character consists in the movable or free segments
being reduced to the 5th and 6th abdominal, as in the obtect
pupa, but with the 7th also free in the male, and the habit of
protruding from the cocoon for emergence. It is, in fact, the
highest form of Incomplete Pupa, with the first four abdominal
segments fixed. I know of no other family, genus, or species
h2
84 THE ENTOMOLOGIST.
possessed of this type of pupa. Since, however, it is the
limiting form in one line of pupal evolution, I think it is not
improbable that some other group of which I am ignorant may
have attained a similar structure.
There can, however, be no question that these two peculiar
specializations, of the early larva and of the pupa, are unlikely
in the highest degree to occur together in any other group. It
is possible, but convergence in this way can hardly be expected
to produce an approach in two apparently independent and un-
related characters.
I may mention that, except where I use the facts recorded
by the late Vactor Tousey Chambers, to which I refer below, I
have depended for my data entirely on my own observations, and
therefore have to leave alone a number of American and other
exotic genera. Their places are tolerably obvious from imaginal
characters which associate them with those genera which I have
specially examined, but I have thought it better to say nothing
about them, especially as space prevents my dealing in detail
even with the material I have. As, for example, though I refer
to only a few species of Gracilaria and Lithocolletis, I have
actually examined the young larva3 of a considerable number
of species, and the pupae of a very large proportion of our British
species.
The earliest reference I can find to the peculiar structure of
the mouth parts of these larvae is in Stainton's collected papers
of Dr. Brackenridge Clemens.* Clemens seems to have noticed
them as early as 1857 in Phyllocnistis, and to have been aware
that they occurred in some Lithocolletis.
Stainton made reference to them in connection with Phyllo-
cnistis in the ' Entomologist's Intelligencer' in 1860.
In the seventies this knowledge was fairly common property,
and the facts had been more or less observed by many micro-
lepidopterists. I know that at this period my friend Dr. Wood,
of Tarrington, was familiar with the main facts, and we often
discussed the questions of their origin and significance, as we
did many others with reference to the Micro-Lepidoptera. My
knowledge of the Micros is in fact largely due to information
obtained in this way from Dr. Wood.
No one apparently published anything on the subject before
Chambers's papers appeared in Psyche, in the ' Journal of
the Cincinnati Nat. Hist. Soc' and in the American 'Entomo-
logist ' in 1877 and following years. He worked the matter out
very fully and carefully, ascertained the genera in which this
structural modification occurred, and also, which is most im-
portant, that they did not occur in any others (so far as known).
There are some details in which his work is open to extension
- These papers were originally published in the Pr. Ac. Nat. Sc. and
Pr. Ent. Soc. of Philadelphia.
CLASSIFICATION OF GRACILARIA AND ALLIED GENERA. 85
and emendation, but, broadly speaking, he had a complete grasp
of the facts. He first, I think, pointed out the closeness of
Gracilaria and Lithocolletis, now universally admitted, and
would, I doubt not, had he lived and gained fuller confidence
in the value of his own observations, have placed Phyllocnistis
along with them. These papers of Chambers are characterized
by a philosophical reasoning and careful observation, which will
delight those who read them for the first time.
It is a little difficult by description to give you a clear picture
of the specialization that occurs in the structure of these larvae.
We have been asked, as an exercise in ontology, to consider
the experiences and mental attributes that would be possessed
by beings possessing only two tiimensions and confined thereto,
in the same way as we are confined within three. These larvae
not only had this question laid before them, but obviously ex-
perimented with a view to gain some actual knowledge on the
subject. If a steam-roller went over an ordinary caterpillar, it
might reduce it to some resemblance to these Gracilariads.
Their mouth-parts are profoundly altered. They are right
away at the anterior angle of a flat triangular head. Each jaw
is no longer a biting instrument, but a flat disc hinged at its
proximal margin, and working to and fro in its own plane (that
of the head and of the larva also), with a serrated margin that
acts on anything in front of it like a circular saw. The two jaws
may cross one another more or less, but they cut nothing
between them ; the cutting is done right in front by each
separately. These jaws work between two thin membranous
veils, one above and one below them ; these are the labrum and
labium. They are finely granulated and spiculated, but possess
practically no palpi, no spinneret, nor any other structure, nor
are any maxillae to be detected, unless they are represented by
certain obscure lines on the jaws.
In some species the appearance is as though the upper and
lower veils were continuous at their margins, thus placing the
jaws, as it were, at the mouth of a bag, from which they pro-
trude sufficiently to show their cutting edge. Their manner of
working suggests that this bag arrangement really exists.
The larvae live beneath the cuticle of the leaf, which they
separate from the parenchyma below by cutting through a row
of cells by the circular saw action of the margins of their jaws.
The fluid contents of the cells are thus set free, and fall at once
into the mouth of the bag. It is probable that the sap is forced
towards the oesophagus by the action of the jaws. Being con-
fined between the veils above and below, the uncut leaf in front
and the moving jaws laterally, it will be subject to a force-pump
action like that of certain rotary pumps.
Chambers (American Ent., 1880, p. 260) deals at some
length with the evolutionary questions that are provoked by
86 THE ENTOMOLOGIST.
these curious modifications. He treats as quite open to dis-
cussion the view that these are the original forms oilepidopterous
trojjhi, and that the ordinary forms are a further development,
but decides against it. I think we may follow him here without
the least hesitation. This group is a solitary one. There is no
other group showing such modified structures, and it is a very
long way indeed from being one of the lowest groups. So that
it is improbable in the last degree that a primary condition like
this is, if it be one, should be preserved here, and here only.
This, when we consider only the Lepidoptera ; but we have to
remember that the ordinary form of lepidopterous tropin falls
into line with that in other insects, whilst that of the early
Gracilariad larva does not.
We are forced, I think, to conclude that this special form of
larva is derived from the ordinary form by selective modification.
Mr. Chambers speaks of these changes as degradation and
elevation. There is a certain convenience in so doing.
The absolute loss of labial and maxillary palpi, just like the loss
of true legs and of prolegs, which occurs in so many other larvae
as well as these, may be spoken of as degradation. But the
marvellous modification of the jaws and of the labrum and
labium to enable a very special form of feeding to be carried
out is rather elevation than otherwise. They are at least
evolutionary changes. Whether we call them degradations or
elevation is rather a matter of the personal equation of the
observer than of the facts themselves. No doubt we incline to
say that an organ that becomes more complicated is advancing,
one that is simplified is degrading ; and probably this is correct
if we apply it to the organ considered, and not to the whole
organism. With regard to our larva, it is specialized, therefore
elevated ; the jaws and labium and labrum are specialized,
therefore an advance; the loss of palpi, &c., is a degradation;
but the whole insect is advanced. In modification of any
question of advance or retreat, we must remember that the lost
processes, palpi, feet, &c., are merely in abeyance, not lost;
their embryonic nuclei persist and give rise to them in the later
stages.
The great interest from an evolutionary point of view of
these larvse is from a rather different aspect. Our ordinary
view of larval evolution in the Lepidoptera is that during the
whole of larval life selection is acting on the larva, and produces
its greatest effect on the full-grown larva, and that the characters
so acquired by the adult larva tend to pass backwards to earlier
moults, so that a primitive condition may persist up to the last
moult, or may be lost earlier, and we find as a very common
occurrence some primitive condition present in the first instar,
but not afterwards. And, finally, the backward pressure of
evolutionary changes annexes the first instar also, and that
CLASSIFICATION OF GRACILARIA AND ALLIED GENERA. 8?
larva has no primitive condition, in any of its aspects that are
so modified.
This picture of larval changes in the Lepidoptera is probably,
to a great extent, a true one. Nevertheless, it is probably much
less frequently so than we imagine.
Let us try to apply it to the Gracilarians. An ancestral
larva has lived some sort of life as a leaf-miner, like a Nepticida,
or a Tischeria, but in its last moult takes on the special structure
of Gracilaria, and feeds in the Gracilarian manner, and then
passes the change back to all the earlier instars. It is just
conceivable ; but to follow this life in its last skin, a Gracilaria
would need a very large and very succulent leaf. It may perhaps
be said that Phyllocnistis practically does this, though its last
instar shows that even here this is not so ; and we may derive
the group from Phyllocnistis.
But how are we to get back in the later stages to the ordinary
form of larva. The embryonal centres have lost the power to
develop the ordinary trophi ; they can develop Gracilarian
trophi, and afterwards the imaginal ones. But the ordinary
ones have been eliminated, and no suitable imaginal discs to
give rise to them remain. It is not possible to picture a
Phyllocnistis giving rise to a form with a larva possessed of
ordinary mouth-parts. They are gone and cannot return. Any
modification of the mouth-parts of Phyllocnistis larvae that are
possible would probably be less like the ordinary form than they
are at present, though there is no reason why a modification
might not occur fulfilling very similar functions to those of
the ordinary trophi, but structurally they would be decidedly
different. No such forms appear to exist.
When we remember that it is the first stage that is always
Gracilarian, and that it persists into the second or some further
stage, and that it is useful in very small larvse only, and there-
fore especially in the first stage. That later there is always an
ordinary stage, though not completely so in Phyllocnistis, since
in it — this also is modified so as to possess no jaws, and only a
spinneret as an actually functional organ — the conclusion is
inevitable that the Gracilarian form arose by modification in the
first instar, and thence moved forward into the second, and in
other cases further.
This modification in the early instars of Gracilaria is by no
means an isolated instance of such an occurrence, but it is
probably the most pronounced and the most unmistakable case
in which an early larval instar undergoes modification, indepen-
dently of any change in the later ones.
We are familiar with the four stages of egg, larva, pupa, and
imago, and that modifications may take place in any one of
these, without any corresponding change necessarily occurring
in any of the others. And we are tolerably prepared to find
88 THE ENTOMOLOGIST.
changes in full-grown larvae gradually pushing their way back to
the earlier instars. What we learn here, however, is that each
larval instar is a stage, comparable to the pupal or imaginal
stage in its individual importance, and that it may undergo
changes without necessarily involving any other instar, which
holds to it the attitude of a separate stage.
In the larval state there are no doubt two conditions at work;
the one is the tendency of a peculiarity acquired at any stage to
be passed to the preceding and following stages — a tendency
that will gradually produce an effect on these adjacent stages
unless they resist it. This they will do should the peculiarity
be such as to produce harmful effects if passed on to them. The
other condition is that the full-grown larva has usually to adapt
itself to conditions that are much more various than those
affecting the young larva, and so the adult larva is much more
liable to varied specialization than it is in its earlier instars.
Essentially, nevertheless, the young larva is just as liable to
specialize in view of changed conditions as the adult one is.
This consideration, if we could always keep it in view,
especially if we could recognize and understand the cases in
which it occurs, would often assist us very much in overcoming
difficulties that arise from supposing that young larvse are
always less modified than older ones ; and especially that such
modifications as they present are reminiscences of modifications
acquired by the adult larvfe of some or other of their ancestors.
As a possible instance, I may remind you of the young larva
of Papilio machaon. This larva seems obviously reminiscent of
an adult Vanessa larva. Yet it is certain that, whether Va7iessa
be or be not derived from a Papilio-like form, Papilio is certainly
not derived from any Nymphalid, nor is there any probability
that any adult PapiHio larva ever was spinous in precisely this
manner.
The spines are a special development of the young Papilio
larva for protective objects affecting itself. They have not been
derived from spinous full-grown larvae amongst their ancestors,
and are not passed on to the present adult larva because it does
not require them.
The processes on adult larvae of Ornithoptera and of Clytia
are not spinous, so as to be ancestral to those of young Machaon,
but may themselves be derived from the spines of the first
stage.
As I have said, however, this and other instances are open
to some doubt, and the case of Gracilaria, in which doubt is
difficult to insinuate, is useful, as giving us a standpoint different
from that usually held.
(To be continued.)
89
VARIATION IN THE GENUS EEEBIA.
By Geoffrey Smith.
(Concluded from p. 71.)
E. tyndarus (measurement of fore wings from apex to inser-
tion in thorax ; male and female variable. Proportion of females,
25 per cent.) —
Eange in males . . 15 mm. to 19 mm.
Eange in females . . 16 mm. to 19 mm.
These measurements are from fifty individuals collected in a
confined area in Haute- Savoie. The males fell into a normal
scheme, thus : —
3 per cent, measured under 16 mm.
J-" J> >J >J -'■ • 5>
40 ,, ,, ,, lo ,,
o\j ,, ,, ,, ly ,,
" >> JJ >f ^^ JJ
This is opposed to the theory, but the following considerations
afford a possible explanation. From the specimens I possess I
am strongly inclined to believe that the larger individuals of
both sexes occur earlier in the year, and graduate down to the
smaller as the season advances. By this means the variations
are kept separate and constant in proportion, despite the dis-
parity in number of the sexes, just as the numerical relations
between so many distinct unvarying species would be kept un-
changed from generation to generation, unless some outside
influence, e.g. natural selection, disturbed those relations. .From
the variations being thus kept separate, the character of length
of fore wing may be considered as a constant one from our
point of view. We possibly see here a case of incipient seasonal
dimorphism.
E. melampus (spot-power : male variable, female more or less
constant at 7. Proportion of female about 10 per cent.).
In order to economise space, I will condense the remarks on
this species.
The scheme derived from males of very different areas was
normal, and gave a M of 6J.
The scheme derived from males collected by myself in a con-
fined area was abnormal ; M was 5. The M of var. sudetica male
is about 7.
E. ligea-euryale (spot-power : male and female variable. Pro-
portion of female about 20 per cent.). The questions relating to
the specific distinctness of these forms are very complex. In his
list of the genus Erebia (Trans. Ent. Soc. 1898), Mr. Elwes
separates the two as good species, but names such varieties as
E. ligea vars. adi/te and livonica as transitional to E. euryale.
90
THE ENTOMOLOGIST.
Dr. Chapman (Trans. Ent. See. Sept. 1898), from considerations
based on the forms of the gonapophyses, states that " the two
recognized forms, ligea, with its vars. adyte and ajanensis, and
euryale, with var. ocellaris, whilst usually distinct, are not always
so, and in some places intermix." From my own experience, I
am inclined to believe that there is only one true species to be
derived from the numerous forms included under the two names
ligea and euryale — that is to say, that any of those forms are
capable of intercrossing and of producing any or all of the rest.
I have collected from one confined area, namely, from a somewhat
isolated mountain slope above the St. Gervais valley, the follow-
ing forms : ligea (typical, with large ocelli), ligea (smaller, and
with ocelli replaced by black spots, identical, in my opinion, with
var. adyte), euryale (typical, with small ocelli), euryale (only
conventionally separable both by clasp-form and wing-facies from
adyte forms of E. ligea), euryale var. ocellaris. I can see no
valid reason for doubting that these forms are specifically one.
In order to bring out the degrees of resemblances and differences
that exist between the two so-called species and their varieties, I
have drawn up a table showing the amounts of ocellation
possessed by them respectively. In giving numerical values to
ocelli and spots, I have gone on the rough principle of counting
two for an ocellus and one for an unpupilled spot, but I have had
to use discretion further than this. The following table is made
up from the specimens in the British Museum : —
Table.
16^
-
15
14
^.
to
13>§
12 -^
11 ^
10'
9
8
a
7
C6
6'
^
5
-1
4
i'
3 J
J
2
1
]^
19
k
TO
;:;: CO
16
15
14
M3
I 12
11
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
M8
VARIATION IN THE GENUS EREBIA. 91
The facts to be deduced from this table are as follows : The whole
range of variability in ocellation in the two forms taken together
is from 16-0. Taken separately the two forms overlap one
another at opposite extremities, the M of ligea being 9j, that of
euryale 6^. Now, if the two are to be miited into one species, the
following conditions must be fulfilled — (1) the mean combined
from the means of the two forms must equal the mean of the
whole range of variability ; (2) the combined mean should fall at
a point where the two forms confessedly pass over into one
another. Now, it will be seen that both these conditions are
satisfied by the table, for (1) i (9|- + 6^-) = 8, and (2) 8 falls at
the point round which the two forms adyte and euryale type are
grouped, and it is admitted that these are transitional forms.
I cannot give here the evidence derived from clasp-forms,
though, to my mind, it is even more convincing than any that
can be derived from wing-facies, because it is so unfailing in its
application to other species of the genus. But anyone who has
worked through a series of them, as I have done, will, I think,
agree with the following remark of Dr. Chapman: " The clasp
differences are not great enough to render this (identity of the
two species) otherwise than likely where they occur together on
the same ground." That the various forms do occur together
more commonly than is supposed, I can only suggest by referring
back to my own remarks and the following of Mr. Elwes : " The
larger the number of specimens which are brought together from
many localities, the more difficult it becomes to name those
varieties ; and I have therefore dropped the names of a few which
I had previously adopted, though I have not done so in cases
where, as with many Asiatic forms, my knowledge is as yet in-
sufficient to justify this course."
From the foregoing arguments it can easily be gathered that
if we treat all forms of ligea and euryale as one species, we have
here the kind of evidence that we set out to find. Collectors
from different parts of the world bring back such different speci-
mens of this species that separate varietal and even specific
names are given to them ; as collections from these areas become
more complete, intermediate links between these varieties and
species are supplied, which show that all are only one species.
The explanation I would give of these facts is that a casual
collector in some area meets only with the M of that area (M
being the mediocre or commonest condition) ; it is only after long
collecting in the same area that the other terms of the scheme
can be supplied. Now we saw that, according to our hypothesis,
the M of different areas would probably be different, and this
supposition is confirmed by the number of named varieties that
exist whichjwere supposed at first to be peculiar to some par-
ticular locality. But as collections become more perfect, it is
found that what occurs as an habitual variation in one area
92 THE ENTOMOLOGIST.
occurs as an occasional variation or aberration in another ; in
other words, the M of one area is the M + or M — of another.
We expected also to find another piece of evidence, if the
principle discussed in Part I. had come into play ; and that was
that the schemes derived from separate areas should not be
normal. Although my material is not sufficient to ensure any-
thing more than some degree of probability, the scheme derived
from the percentages of forms occurring in a confined area is not
a normal one. There is too sharp a transition in numbers from
those possessing large ocelli to those with the ocelli replaced by
spots.
Further additions are much needed to confirm or correct the
imperfect observations here recorded, both in regard to the
species treated, and also other species of this and other genera.
To recapitulate the whole discussion — the two leading charac-
teristics of the species of the genus Erehia are variability and
numerical disproportion of sexes. These two characteristics are
put into causal connection by the principle that equality in the
numbers of the sexes tends towards equilibrium, i.e. constancy
of hitherto variable characters, and that inequality when coupled
with variability in the preponderating sex tends towards con-
tinued fluctuation of variable characters. This is effected in the
following ways : —
When the sexes are equal in numbers constancy of characters
is attained by —
1. Kegular product of variability of one sex into constancy
of the other, under undisturbed regulation of the laws of
chance.
2. Eegular product of variability of one sex into variability
of the other, under undisturbed regulation of the laws of
chance.
When the sexes are unequal in numbers fluctuation is pre-
served by —
1. Irregular product of variability of one sex into constancy
of the other, the laws of chance acting irregularly. .
2. Ditto, when both sexes are variable.
The evidence of the existence of this principle as a working
factor would be that the individuals of a variable species satis-
fying the conditions of principle, and taken from a confined area,
do not fall into a normal scheme with respect to the variable
characters under consideration, although individuals taken from
many areas very likely do so ; and also that the M of different
areas would differ both from one another, and from the M of all
the areas combined. Observations were then given on E. tyn-
'darus, melampus, and ligea-euryale, which tended to show that
such evidence was forthcoming.
93
AN ADDITIONAL LIST OF BUTTEEFLIES FROM THE
RHONE VALLEY.
By a. F. Rosa, M.B, CM.
In relation to a list of butterflies published by me in the
'Entomologist' for February, 1900, the following are a few notes
in comparison, and an additional list of species and varieties
observed, during two subsequent visits of a fortnight and ten
days respectively, in July (7th to 21st), 1900, and August (3rd to
13th), 1901.
On these two occasions practically the same ground was
worked — viz. (1) the vicinity of Aigle ; (2) the forest of Pfin ;
(3) Berisal and the Simplon route ; with the exception that in
August, 1901, a short stay was made at Zermatt, and the Nicolai
Thai traversed.
With respect to the species included in the previous list, at
Aigle, in July, 1900, the first seen was Melanargia galatea, which
put in an appearance whenever there was the faintest glimmer
of sunshine, the first day or two being wet and almost sunless.
Things looked brighter on the 9th, and from that date onward;
but butterflies were decidedly scarcer than in the previous July,
especially the Lycaenidse. A few of L. icarus were noted, and of
L. corydon and L. damon, which were abundant the year before,
only one or two of each were seen. Wherever trees occurred by
the road Limenitis sihylla flitted about, often in twos and threes,
L. Camilla being only represented altogether by one or two speci-
mens ; and it was the reverse the previous year as regards these
two species.
Papilio machaon was frequently observed, and one was seen
depositing ova on umbelliferous plants by the roadside. Par-
nassius ajjollo, as usual, becomes common as one ascends the
road towards Le Sepey, and amongst others I secured one very
large female specimen. Euchloe belia var. simplonia and E. carda-
mines were sparingly seen, as also was Leptidia sinapis. Colias
hyale was common, but rarely in good condition; and of C. ediisa
a fresh brood was noted, but these were few and far between.
Thecla ilicis and T. spini in worse condition than in the previous
year ; and of the Vanessids, Polygonia c-album was taken several
times, the larvse of Vanessa io occurred plentifully on nettles by
the side of the road near Le Sepey, and one imagine of Pyrameis
atalanta was captured. The fiery Melitcea didyma was the com-
monest of its genus, which was otherwise represented by M.pthoehe
and M. athalia. The three large fritillaries Argynnis aglaia,
A. adippe, and A. paphia turned up now and then ; and Satyr us
hermione, much smaller than in the previous July, was abundant.
S. actcea var. cordula, Pararge mcera, P. megcera, P. acki)ii, and
many other common butterflies, as Aporia craUegi, Gonepteryx
rhamni, Satyrus semele, etc., were taken or noted.
94 THE ENTOMOLOGIST.
In the Pfin forest, July, 1900, butterflies at times were ob-
served in great abundance. In the shady parts a fine brood of
Erehia ligea was emerging, and Lyaena avion var. obscura was
the same and in like condition (one of these has all the wings
completely shaded). These two species were very plentiful, and
so was Argijnnis latonia, of which four or five more than once
were noted within as many yards. Limenitis Camilla here was
fairly common, the difficulty being the scarcity of perfect speci-
mens, many being chipped, although all were fresh. L. sibylla
apparently does not occur in the forest.
In the smaller fields, especially where overrun with tall
rank weeds, &c., Pajnlio machaon frequently occurred, and the
larger fritillaries also frequented these hot sheltered spots, along
with Aporia cratcegi, Gonepteryx rliamni, Colias hyale, and an
occasional C. edusa, &c.
LejHidia sijiapis and its var. erysimi also occurred commonly,
and in the larger open fields Lyccena corydon was about in
abundance, and at times MeliUsa athalia arose in numbers at
every step. M. phcehe was also taken, and Satyrus hcrmione,
very small, probably some referable to S. alcyone ; and, in
addition to these, S. actaa v. cordula, Epinephele lycaon, and
many others.
On the Simplon route, in the same year, the principal fea-
ture was the abundance of the Lycsenidfe, not only as regards
numbers, but as species and varieties, as Lyccena cegon, L. argus,
L. astrarche, L. eros, L. icarus, L. eumedon, L. hellargus, L.
corydon, L. hylas, L. damon, L. minimus, L. semiargtis, L. avion,
and seven other blues, which will be taken up in the list to
follow.
Evehia euryale was also a conspicuous insect on account of
its abundance, from above Brieg to well up the Simplon road
above Berisal it was to be noted, as is its habit, congregated in
little groups on the road. Papilio machaon was common on a
steep embankment at a bend in the road above Berisal, and
Parnassius apollo in the neighbourhood of Berisal. Pievis calli-
dice, P. napi var. hvyonice, and Colias phicomone were taken at and
near the top of the Simplon, and Goenonympha arcania var.
davwiniana on the Italian side.
Near Brieg Golias edusa was a passing and generally rapidly
disappearing visitor, and below Berisal G. hyale, Goneptevyx
rhamni, Melitcea phosbe (very common and varied), M. didyma,
M. athalia; the larger fritillaries, Argynnis aglaia, A. adippe,
and A. niohe (mostly var. evis), also A. euphrosyne and A. pales.
Chvysophanus virgauvece, G. hippothoe, G. alciphvon var. govdins,
near Berisal; and among the skippers, which were very common,
Gavcharodiis {Syviclitlius) lavatevce was frequently taken. Melitcea
dictynna also occurred above Berisal, and, higher up, Erebia
tyndarus and E. melampus.
LIST OF BUTTERFLIES FROM THE RHONE VALLEY. 95
In August, 1901, in those different districts, being a month
later, I naturally expected to find many new things, but these
anticipations were not realized, very few new species were ob-
served. Many had disappeared, many still lingered on the
wing, and a few were represented in their later broods, as Colias
hyale, Pararge megcera, &c., in the Pfin Forest. Pieris hrassicce
was much more common and generally distributed than I had
previously observed it ; and on the Simplon, Erehia goante was
very plentiful, as also was Pieris callidice in the neighbourhood
of the Schwarzee, on the Matterhorn.
The undernoted are the additional species and varieties
taken or seen during these two seasons : —
PaPILIONIDvE.
Papilio podalirius. — This species, which, as above indicated, was
not seen in 1899, although assiduously looked for, was sparingly seen
and taken on the road between Aigle and Le Sepey in early July, 1900,
and also a few days later in the Pfin Forest. In August last it was
very common in the latter locality, far more common than P. machaon.
One white example of P. x>odalirius was taken at Aigle, July, 1900 ;
and another, a fine specimen, was secured in the forest in August, 1901.
P. machaon var. aurantiaca. — One of this variety netted on the
Simplon route above Berisal, and one or two others seen in the Pfin
Forest, July, 1900.
Parnassius apollo var. pseudonovdon. — One male near Aigle on the
Le JSepey road in 1900.
P. mnemosyne. — Common in a field below Berisal from 15th to
18th July, 1900, the males being mostly worn and scarce ; but the
females were not difficult at this late date to obtain in good condition.
PlERID^.
Pieris daplidice. — A few captured in the Pfin Forest in July, 1900,
and in August, 1901, it was to be taken freely; a fine brood, nearly
all in splendid condition, in the same locality.
Leptidia sinapis var. diniensis. — Common in the Pfin Forest last
August.
Colias palano. — Occasionally on the top of the Simplon and at the
Ganter Bridge below Berisal in July, 1900. Also one pale male taken
in the Pfin Forest the same year, which I believe is a low elevation for
it in Switzerland.
Lyc^nid-e.
Zepliyrus quercus. — One netted near Aigle in July, 1900.
Chrysophamis viryaitrecE, var. zermattensis. — Common by the side of
the road at Berisal, and frequently at Zermatt, and in a field in the
Zmutt Thai, August, 1901.
Lycmna aryus var. ayidion. — One of this blue variety of the female
taken at Visp, and another near Looche in August last.
L. zephyrus var. lycidas. — Between the second refuge and the
Ganter Bridge on the Simplon road, which I believe is the best
locality for it, I secured a series of this interesting blue between the
15th and 18th July, 1900, and probably more would have been taken
96 THE ENTOMOLOGIST.
had it not been the case that L. escheri was m great profusion, and
being of a more brilliant colour distracted one's attention.
L. baton. — Two at Berisal, July, 1900.
L. pJieretes. — One in the Ganter-Thal, July, 1900.
L. orbitulus. — Fairly common in the same locality as last, and at
the same time.
L. icarus ab. icarinus. — Occasionally at Berisal, July, 1900.
L. escheri. — As before mentioned, this species was in grand form
between Brieg and Berisal, and especially abundant on nearing the
latter locality, July, 1900. Also one large male taken in the Pfynwald,
and a few in 1901.
L. meleager. — I accompanied a friend to the Pfin Forest who was in
search of this insect in July, 1900 ; we did not identify the species
until our return to the hotel, although we had both secured specimens.
Its resemblance to L. corydon is at first siglit very close, although the
next day I had little difficulty in distinguishing it on the wing. It
was apparently fairly common, and in August, 1901, although a month
later in the season, the insect was still on the wing ; the males were,
however, rather worn, but not so badly as one would have expected. — •
Ab. steveni. The females taken are apparently of this form.
L. corydon var. corijdonius. — One of this beautiful variety taken at
Pfin, July, 1900.
L. alcon. — One male beyond the Hospice on the Simplon Pass,
July, 1900.
NyMPHALIDjE.
Apafura iris. — Other butterflies, especially the Lycaenidje, being
comparatively scarce at Aigle in July, 1900, the presence of this fine
species on the road contributed greatly to compensate for the deficiency.
All those seen were males, and being very bold were frequently easily
captured. Seven were seen in one morning, and of these four were
taken ; and on other days in smaller numbers. Only observed each
day from about the time the sun struck the road (10 a.m. or later) till
about noon. Generally settled on the dry white rock at the side of
the road, or on the road itself. Only once on mule droppings, which
were more frequently visited by Satynis herinione and Alelitaa didyma.
A. ilia. — The first strange butterfly seen in the Pfin Forest, July,
1900, was this, and the individual seemed to have an attraction for a
special spot in a dry ditch, to which it returned several times after
taking long flights. I eventually captured it later on in the day as it
alighted on the leaves of a shrub. The species was not particularly
common, three or four being the total catch — all males.
Limenitis jjopidi. — Seen on three occasions in the Pfin Forest,
July, 1900.
Polygonia c-alhum. var. hutchinsonii. — One taken in the Nicolai-Thal,
near Stalden, last August.
Vanessa antiopa. — One seen circling round near the top of some
lofty trees at Aigle, and one worn specimen at rest on a wall near
Brieg Station, July, 1900. Again at Aigle in August last, and not
infrequently on the road between Loeche and Pfin.
Pyrameis cardui. — One or two in the Pfynwald, July, 1900 ; and in
August, 1901, taken commonly in the same neighbourhood. Some of
BUTTEKFLIES OF SYRIA AND PALESTINE. 97
them very diminutive, all freshly emerged, and frequently very richly
coloured.
Melitcca didyma var. aJpina. — Seen first on a wall at Aigle, and taken
on the road to Berisal. Again taken last season at Aigle and Berisal.
M.phcebe YSiV. occitanica. — Near Berisal, July, 1900; also var. minor.
Aryynnis i)apliia va,x. .valesina. — Stalden, Visp, and Aigle, August,
1901.
A. selene. — Several above Brieg, July, 1900.
A. dia. — Common in the Pfynwald last August; also one taken
near Zermatt on the path to Staffel Alp.
SATYRIDiE.
Erebia epiphron var. cassiope, — One on the Simplon above Berisal,
July, 1900. — Var. valesUma. Two on the Matterhorn, August, 1901.
E. mnestra. — Two specimens on the Matterhorn, August, 1901.
E. athiops. — Pfynwald, very large specimens ; and one female of
the var. leucotcBida, August, 1901.
E. euryale ab. adyte. — Many specimens of euryale taken on the
Simplon, July, 1900, were of this form.
Satyrus clryas. — Sparingly at Aigle ; but common in the Pfin
Forest last season.
Pararge egeria. — One at Pfin, August, 1901.
Hesperiid.!:.
Augiades [Hesperia) comma. — Occurred in the Pfynwald last August.
Altogether during the three seasons about one hundred and
forty-four species and named varieties were observed, and taken,
with the exception of Limenitis populi.
28, Pitt Street, Edinburgh.
A FEW NOTES ON SOME OF THE BUTTERFLIES OF
SYRIA AND PALESTINE.
By Maegaket E. Fountaine, F.E.S.
(Concluded from p. 63.)
LyccBiia balcanica, Frr. — This exquisite little " blue " occurred
during the last days of June in great abundance on the shores of the
Sea of Galilee, and in other localities, always at low levels in Pales-
tine ; also on the Plain of Huleh, below Baniyas. I generally found
it flying round a small-leafed, prickly shrub, which grew in clumps in
all these places.
L. gamra, Ld. — The butterfly, identified by Mr. Elwes as L. yamva,
which I only met with in Palestine, was first seen by me just above the
Sea of Galilee, but not found, like balcanica, down on the very "brink of
the lake. On the Plain of Jenin, on July 3rd, when I was riding from
Nazareth to the next halting-place, it literally swarmed ; some of the
specimens were in perfect condition, others not so fresh, so that I
ENTOM. APRIL, 1902. I
98 THE ENTOMOLOGIST.
would rather suggest tlie end of June as the time of appearance for
this butterfly than the beginning of July.
L. troclujlm, Frr. — Common round Beyrout and other places, at
low levels, from May on throughout the summer, I do not recollect
ever seeing it in Palestine.
L. galha, Chr, — Occurring at the same time in all the same
localities as gamra.
L. li/siiiwn, Hiib. — Only found by me on the Plain of Huleh, near
BAniyas, and nowhere else. L. galba, to which it bears a striking
resemblance, did not occur in the same place.
L. loewii, Z. — I found these butterflies flying in some considerable
numbers near Damascus, on a mountain rising immediately behind
the Kurd village, the parched-up aridity of which baffles all descrip-
tion, being also more especially remarkable in contrast to the rich,
fertile plain, where the white city of Damascus lies surrounded by
gardens intersected with streams and watercourses. But, unfor-
tunately, on the 8th of May and succeeding days upon which I visited
this mountain, it was only with the greatest difficulty that I succeeded
in taking any specimens of loewii worth keeping ; the females espe-
cially were in very bad condition. I also took one male of this
butterfly at Baalbek in June, but saw no others.
L. zephyrus var. nichoUi. — I was particularly interested to take this
variety, named after and discovered only a year ago by Mrs. Nicholl.
At Baalbek, though I searched everywhere, I neither found the variety
or the type ; but at the Cedars, the first week in June, I was more for-
tunate, and took some remarkably well-marked specimens of var.
nicholli.
L. anteros var. crassipjincta, Christoph. — I took a good series of this
butterfly, mostly at the B'hamdoon Cedars, near Aiu Zahalta, in
April ; also a few specimens, including one female from Bsherreh in
June.
L. isaurica, Ld. — At the Cedars, males only, in June.
L. bellargm var. polonus, Z. (?). — This variety was fairly common
in the dried-up bed of a stream, on the way to the Cedars from
Bsherreh in June ; the females, however, were rare, and I only took
two specimens. In calling it polonus I am submitting to the superior
knowledge of Mr. Elwes and Mrs. Nicholl, for it seems to me to
approach much more nearly to corgdon than bellargus, and to answer
exactly to the description of var. corydonius, H. S.
L. admetus var. ripartii, Frr. — Common in the neighbourhood of
Bsherreh and the Cedars in June.
L. poseidon, Ld. — I took several specimens of this species, at
Baalbek, the Cedars, &c. ; I cannot think it is a variety of damon, the
males are so remarkably dissimilar, both sexes bearing a very striking
resemblance to damon females. I should be interested to know if this
is a distinct species or not.
L. semiargus var. antiochena, Ld. — Common near Maharain, in the
neighbourhood of Ain Zahalta, in April ; the females, which were
much rarer than the males, were extremely beautiful, being shot with
vivid blue on all the wings, in addition to the broad orange border.
All the males had minute orange spots on the hind wings, near the
aual angles on the upper side ; more distinct, and on all the wings
UTTERFLIES OF SYRIA AND PALESTINE. 99
beneath, in both sexes. I could not trace much resemblance to semi-
arrjHs in either sex, either in size, shape, or colour.
Vanessa egea, Cr. — Common in most places, at no great elevation ; a
large, bright form. I do not recollect ever having seen such large
specimens anywhere in Europe.
T'. urticm var. turcica, Stgr. — Having found a quantity of " lesser
tortoiseshell " caterpillars feeding, as usual, on nettles, on the southern
slopes of the Jebel-el-Arz, at an elevation of some 7000 ft., on June 11th,
I took about two dozen of the largest I could find. They all pupated
in a few days, and in less than a week emerged into perfect insects, all
more or less belonging to the var. turcica, and some very markedly so.
Possibly the intense heat of Damascus, which place I had moved on
to, was partly accountable for their very rapid emergence.
{Melitma, F. — I have not been able to identify the species I took of
this genus with sufficient certainty to give any satisfactory account of
them. A series from Ain Zahalta, in April, I believe to be M. arduinna,
Esp., but I am by no means certain of their identity. I certainly
took a magnificent form of M. dichjma var. neera, on a high mountain
near Damascus, in May and, less decided, in a few other places.)
Argynnis niobe var. eris, Meig. — One every small specimen at the
Cedars in June ; black tracery above extremely scanty. I saw others.
A. jiioidora, S.V. — Common in several places. I saw one at Ain
Zahalta on April 28th ; was not this very early ?
Danais chrysippus, L. — Fairly common on the Plain of Huleh,
round Beyrout, &c. ; I should say, on the wing throughout the summer.
Melanargia titca, Klug. — At the mouth of the Dog River, and at
Hadet, near Beyrout, throughout the mouth of May. It was on May
4th that I first saw one specimen up the Dog Eiver, but unluckily I
did not visit its particular haunt at the mouth of the river that day,
which Prof. Day had kindly pointed out to me on a previous occasion ;
and when I did visit it, a week or two later, all the specimens were
worn.
M. teneates, Men. — Like Mrs. Nicholl, I also mistook this butterfly
for M. larissa var. herta, when I first saw it, on the top of a mountain
near Damascus, in May. It seemed to occur on all the high moun-
tains throughout the summer, apparently producing a succession of
broods, as fresh specimens were always to be met with, as well as
others in as bad condition as they well could be. Perhaps it was most
common on the comparatively lower regions of Mt. Hermon, towards
the end of June ; but, unlike most of this genus, instead of colonizing
in groups in certain localities, it was widely distributed, and specimens
generally occurred singly.
Satyrus anthe, 0. — Abundant everywhere in the Lebanon and Anti-
Lebanon; throughout the greater part of May and June ; I do not
recollect seeing it anywhere in July, or at all in Palestine, At the
foot of a mountain near Damascus, on May 10th, it was freshly
emerging in the early morning, and I took a number of specimens only
just out of the chrysalis, with their wings still limp. The var. hanifa
occurred everywhere with the type ; this variety seemed to be confined
to the females, though I took one male at Damascus very nearly
approaching it in richness of tone.
i2
100 THE ENTOMOLOGIST.
S. pelopea, Klug. — Not out much before June, and very con-
siderably less plentiful than the preceding, or the next species.
S. tclephassa, Hiib. — Very common indeed ; I should say it was
out some eight or ten days earlier than anthc this year, but might vary
according to the season. To me it appears quite distinct from S.
awalthea, which I took some numbers of in Greece last year. The
females were quite as common as the males, and this was also the case
with awalthea.
S. stalilinus var. siclimi, Ld. — This variety was common in moun-
tain gorges and ravines in Palestine early in July. I also took it near
Beyrout, and at Aley later in the month.
Y2)thima asterope, Klug. — This little brown butterfly was common
on the coast from April till August, and probably on till the autumn,
evidently producing a succession of broods throughout the summer.
I did not think it interesting ; none of the specimens ever presented
the slightest variation, being almost identical.
Pararije roxelana, Cr. — Not uncommon, and in excellent condition,
near Bludan on June 20th. It flew in shady, narrow lanes. The
specimens did not vary with those I have taken in Hungary, only in
the extraordinary development of the hind wings from costa to outer
margin.
Epinephele lycaon, Rott. — All along the lower slopes of Mouilt
Hermon on June 28th. The specimens struck me as being paler in
tone than the European form ; indeed, the first male I saw I mistook
for a large pale-coloured Lycmia.
E. ianira var. telmessia, Z. — In the grounds of the American College
and other places near Beyrout in April and May. I found the female
rare and difficult to secure a good series of.
Syrichthus tesseUum, var. nomas. — A very fine " skipper." I took
single specimens in various localities in the Lebanon in May and
June.
S. malvm var. mclotis, Dup. — Common in the Lebanon, May and
June.
*S'. jxHjyei, Ld. — On the top of a mountain near Damascus ; fairly
common early in May.
S. orhifer, Hiib. — Very common in many places in April and May.
Nisoniades marloyi, B. — I took one specimen and saw another near
Ain Zahalta in April.
Hesperia nostrodavnis, F. — I used to see this butterfly up the Dog
River, &c., but never succeeded in getting a specimen worth keeping.
I imagine, like most " black butterflies," it gets rubbed very easily.
Before concluding these notes, it may perhaps be of some
use to other entomologists intending to visit Syria to mention
some of the localities I found the best for collecting, with perhaps
a few observations of a practical nature as well. Of these, I
select three especially, viz. Ain Zahalta, Bsherreh, for the neigh-
bourhood of the Cedars, and Baniyas, at the foot of the southern
slopes of Mount Hermon. Ain Zahalta, which is reached by a
four hours' walk over the mountains from Ain Sofar, on the
Beyrout-Damascus Railway, is a mission station, and accom-
LIST OF LEPIDOPTERA COLLECTED IN NIGERIA. 101
modation — clean but rough — can be obtained during the spring
months (which I should imagine was the best time for collecting
here) at the house of a Syrian woman named Takla Abood, who
speaks English ; and in summer there is a mountain hotel. At
Bsherreh, about one hour's walk or ride from the Cedars, situated
in a magnificent position overlooking a glorious well-watered
valley, there is now a new hotel, very small but most clean and
comfortable, with the most obliging host and hostess, both of
whom, having spent some time in Australia, can speak English.
Bsherreh is approached on the west by a carriage-road, and is
two days' drive from Beyrout by Tripolis ; or, on the east over
the pass of the Jebel-el-Arz, about ten or twelve hours' ride from
Baalbek, with good collecting most of the way. At Baniyas I
would willingly have made a much more protracted stay, as
from what I did see I should say it was one of the best "butterfly
corners" in Syria ; but I only passed it as one of the halting-
places on my ride from Damascus to Jerusalem, and not being
provided with tents, the accommodation in the native house
where I put up was of such a nature that my courage failed me
at the thoughts of another night in Baniyas, so I decided to ride
on to Giayoni. But I feel sure that for those who should be
camping out, and therefore independent of the horrors of native
houses, this neighbourhood would afford excellent collecting.
7, Lansdown Place (East), Bath: Dec. 1901.
A LIST OF LEPIDOPTERA COLLECTED by DR. CUTHBERT
CHRISTY IN NIGERIA.
By Emily Mary Sharpe.
(Concluded from p. 68.)
Family LYCiENiD^E.
46. Lachnocnema d'urbani, Trimen. — a. Jebba ; May.
47. PiLODEUDORix c.ERULEA {H. H. Dnice). — a, h, <? . Juju-
rock, Jebba ; November.
48. ViRACHOLALiviA (/v^M^r).— rt. Juju-rock, Jebba; November
This species was hitherto supposed to be restricted to Aden
whence there are specimens in the British Museum.
49. ViRACHOLA ANTALus (iIo|)^.). — a-c, ^. Juju-rock, Jebba
November, d, ? . Lokoja ; May.
50. SuKiDioN lASis (Hewits.). — a, <? . Juju-rock, Jebba
November.
*' Pilodeudorix ccerulea, Virachola livia, and Sukidion iasis
seem to frequent high ground, as I only came across these species
on the Juju-rock."— C. C.
102 THE ENTOMOLOGIST.
51. Spindasis NiLus (Hewits.). — a, ^. Ilo ; February, 1899.
This is a very interesting species, hitherto represented by a
female in the Hewitson Collection in the British Museum from
the White Nile.
52. AxiocERSES PERioN (Cram.). — a, h, 3' ■ Ho ; January.
c, ? . Lokoja ; May. d-f, 3 . Ilo ; March, 1899.
53. Lyc^nesthes amarah (Guer.). — a, ? . Ilo ; January,
1899.
54. Lyc^nesthes adherbal, Mahille. — a, 3' . Lokoja ; May.
55. Lyc^nesthes LARYDAS (Cram.).— a, $. Lokoja.
56. Cacyreus lingeus (Cra??i.). — a-c, <? . Jebba ; September,
1898.
57. Tarucus plinius (Fabr.). — a-d, 3- Jebba; May, Sept-
ember, November, 1898. e, $ . Sierra Leone ; February, 1898.
f-i, 3 . Kabba ; November.
58. PoLYOMMATus B^Ticus (Linn.). — a, e, 3 ?. Jebba; Nov-
ember. /, 3 . Boussa ; December, cj, $ . Eabba ; November.
59. Catochrysops fumosus. Bull. — a. Lokoja.
60. Catochrysops OSIRIS (Hoijff.).—a, 3- Leaba; December,
1899. h, <y . Shonga; August.
61. EucHRYSOPS NiGERiiE, sp. n. — Primaries: General colour
bright azure blue ; the apex and hind margin narrowly lined
with greyish brown ; cilia dirty white. Secondaries similar to
the primaries ; the hind margin narrowly edged with greyish
brown, the cilia nearly white ; a submarginal row of white spots
with more or less obsolete dark centres, the darkest and largest
spot situated between the first and second median nervule ; near
the anal angle a second row of faintly indicated white spots.
Underside similar to that of Catochrysops contracta, Butler. An
extra row of spots on the marginal area of both wings, these
spots being larger and more compact than in the above-named
form, and consisting of four narrow lines of brown, with white
spots on either side situated between the nervules ; the basal
area of the secondaries relieved by the usual three black dots ;
the distinct black spot on the hind margin edged on its lower
side with metallic silver ; one spot between the second and third
median nervule and two spots on the anal angle being of the
same metallic colour. Expanse, '8 in.
Hah. $ . Ilo ; February, 1899. Type.
62. Lampides HIPPOCRATES (Fabr.). — a, b. Jebba ; September,
1899.
63. Neolyc^na cissus (Godt.). — a-e, <? . Shonga; August.
/, ? . Jebba ; November.
64. Zizera knysna {Trimen). — a-d, 3 ? • Jebba ; Sept-
ember and October.
LIST OP LEPIDOPTERA COLLECTED IN NIGERIA. 103
Family Pierid^.
65. Nychitoma alcesta {Cram.).— a, b. Jebba ; May, October.
c. Lokoja.
66. Mylothris CHLORis (i^aftr.).— a, <? . Shonga ; September.
67. Phrissura SYLVIA (Fabr.). — a. Mount Patti, Lokoja;
May, 1899.
68. Glutophrissa saba {Fabr.).— a-d, ^ . Jebba; May, October.
e-g, 3^ 2 . Mount Patti, Lokoja ; May, 1899. h, <? . Boussa ; December.
69. Belenois gidica (Go(i;f.). — a, 3. Jebba; May.
70. Belenoisabyssinicus (Lwcfls).— a, <y . Ilo ; January, 1899.
71. Belenois creona {Cram.). — a-4, <? ? . Ilo ; Marcb, 1899.
j, 3 . Rabba ; November, k-m, <? ? . Jebba ; September, 1898.
n-r, 3 ? . Mount Patti, Lokoja ; May, 1899. s, 3' . Lokoja ;
May. t, ? . Juju-rock, Jebba ; November.
72. Belenois mesentina {Cram.). — «, b, 3 • Ho ; March, c, <? .
Rabba ; November.
73. Belenois calypso (Drury). — a-c, <? ? . Ilo ; March, 1899.
d, ? . Lokoja ; May.
74. Pinacopteryx ? liliana {Grose Smith). — a, ? . Ilo ; Feb-
ruary, 1899.
75. Teracolus maimuna {Kirby). Teracolus maimima, E. M.
Sharpe, Monogr. Ent. i. p. 24, pi. 9, figs. 1-19 (1898).— a, 3 .
Jebba ; September, 1898.
76. Teracolus Amelia {Lucas). — a, b. IJo ; February and
March, 1899.
This species has been recorded from Senegal and Abyssinia,
and seems therefore to range throughout the Soudan.
77. Teracolus DEDECORA (i^eW.). — a-i, 3 ?• Ho; January,
February, 1899.
The occurrence of this species in Nigeria is of great interest,
as it has previously only been recorded from Senegal, in Western
Africa. It is a well-known species in North-eastern Africa,
where it ranges from Abyssinia to Somali-land, and eastward as
far as Muscat, in Arabia.
78. Teracolus EviPPE {Linn.). — a-l, 3 ? . Jebba; September,
November, 1898. m, 3 . Ilo ; March, 1899. n, o, 3 ^ . Mount
Patti, Lokoja ; May. jp-s, 3 ? . Lokoja ; May.
79. Teracolus LOANDicus, SitiZ. — a. Lokoja; May.
80. Teracolus evagore {King).— a-e, <? ?. Ilo; January,
February, 1899.
I am unable to separate Dr. Christy's specimens from those
in the British Museum from Aden, from which place the British
Museum contains a large series.
81. Teracolus isaura {Lucas). — a-c, <? . Jebba; September
and November, 1898,
104 THE ENTOMOLOGIST.
This eastern species is here recorded for the first time from
Nigeria. The British Museum has specimens from the White
Nile and Upper Egypt, Abyssinia, and the Arusa Galla country
and Mombasa.
82. Teracolus simplex, Butl. — a-d, $ ? . Ilo ; February and
March, 1899.
The occurrence of this southern species is somewhat extra-
ordinary, but my father tells me that in the Hinterland of the
Gold Coast some South African species of birds, which have not
been found in the intervening districts of Africa, occur quite
unexpectedly.
83. Teracolus xanthevarne, Butl. ; E. M. Sharpe, Monogr,
Ent. p. 90, pi. 29, figs. 1-1^ (1900). — a, 6, 3^ $ . Ilo ; January,
February, 1899.
This species has hitherto only been known from North-east
Africa ; the specimens in the British Museum being from the
Anseba Valley, Bogos-land, Abyssinia, and the White Nile.
84. Leuceronia argia {Fahr.). — «, <? . Mozum, Benue Eiver;
June, 1899.
85. Leuceronia pharis (Boisd.). — a-c, S ? . Mozum, Benue
Eiver ; June, 1899.
86. Catopsilia florella {Fahr.). — a, <y . Ilo ; January, 1899.
&-/, 3^ . Mount Patti, Lokoja ; May, 1899.
87. Terias brenda, DouU. <£ Hewits. — a. Mozum, Benue
Eiver; June, 1899.
88. Terias orientis, Butl. — a. Sierra Leone ; February,
1898. b, c. Jebba ; September, 1899. d, e. Ilo ; March, 1899.
89. Terias hapale, Mahille. — a. Ilo ; January, 1899. h.
Boussa ; December.
90. Terias regularis, Butl. — a-c. Jebba ; September and
October, 1899. d-f. Shonga; August.
91. Terias brigitta (Cra??i.). — a,h. Sierra Leone; February,
1898. c. Jebba ; October, d-j. Ilo ; January, February, and
March, 1899.
92. Terias zoe, Hopf. — a-e, 3 ? • Jebba ; September and
October, 1898. /, 3 . Eabba ; November.
Family Papilionid^.
93. Papilio demodocus, Esper. — a-f. Lokoja ; May. g-k.
Mount Patti, Lokoja ; May, 1899. I, m. Ilo ; February, 1899.
" Frequented a species of orange tree." — C. C.
94. Papilio PYLADES, i^a&r. — a-c. Jebba; May and Novem-
ber, d. Eabba ; November, e. Ilo ; March, 1899. /. Mount
Patti, Lokoja ; May, 1899.
95. Papilio leonidas, Fahr. — a. Lokoja; May. 6. Mozum,
Benue Eiver ; June, 1899.
LIST OF LEPIDOPTERA COLLECTED IN NIGERIA. 105
Family Hesperid^.
96. Sarangesa synestalmenus (Karsch). — a, h. Boussa ;
December.
97. Hesperia dromus (Ploetz). — a-c, $ ? . Shonga ; August.
98. Pardaleodes incerta (Snellen). — a. Sierra Leone; Feb-
ruary, 1898. h, c. Lokoja ; May.
99. Ampittia? iNORNATUs (Trme^i). — a. Shonga; August.
100. Gegenes hottentota [Latr.). — a, <? . Boussa; De-
cember.
101. Gegenes LETTERSTEDTiCI^aZZeji^fr.^i. — a. Shonga; August,
1898.
102. Parnara borbonica (BoiscL). — a. Jebba ; November.
103. Baoris FATUELLus (iJoji^.). — a. Sierra Leone ; February,
1898. h-f. Jebba; October and November, g-h. Lokoja; May.
i. Rabba; November.
" This species has the peculiar habit of frequenting one's tent
at dawn of day. It flits about in every corner in a restless manner,
and is easy to catch. When the sun gets well up it disappears. It
was common every morning on Mount Patti, and also at Boussa, in
the hospital, flitting about beneath the beds and elsewhere." — C. C.
104. Baoris netopha (Heivits.). — a. Lokoja.
105. Platylesches batang^e (HolL). — a, b. Lokoja; May.
106. Ehopalocampta forestan {Cram.). — a. Jebba; Septem-
ber, h-g. Lokoja ; May.
Family Sphingid^.
107. Pseudosmerinthus submarginalis {Walk.). — a. Jebba;
November.
108. Leucophlebia afra. — Leucophlehia afra (Karsch), Ent.
Nach. Berlin, xvii. p. 2, pi. 1, fig. 1 (1891). a. Ilo; February, 1899.
109. Nephele peneus {Cram.). — a. Jebba.
Family Syntomid^.
110. Syntomis interniplaga {Mabille). — Hampson, Cat.Lepid.
Phalffinje, vol. i. p. 114, pi. 11, fig. 16 (1898). a. Lokoja.
Family ARCTiADiE.
111. Alpenus iEQUALis {Walk.). — a. Mozum, Benue Piiver;
June, 1899.
112. DiACRisiA lutescens (TFa^A;.).— Hampson, Cat. Lepid.
Phalsense, iii. p. 295, 1901. a. Mount Patti, Lokoja ; May,
1899. b. Lokoja.
113. UTETHEiSAPULCHELLA(Lm7i.).— a. Jebba; October, 1898.
Family Hypsid.e.
114. Argina cingulifera {Walk.).— a, h. Jebba; November,
c. Shonga; August, 1898.
106
THE ENTOMOLOGIST.
Family Liparid^.
115. LiELiA SETiNoiDES (Holland). — a. Lokoja.
Family Lymantriad^.
116. CiMOLA ELEUTERiA (StolL). — a-c, 3' ? . Mozum, Benue
Eiver ; June, 1899.
" This species was seen frequently whilst traversing the
thickest jungle on the right bank of the Benue." — C. C.
117. Dasychira sp. — a. Mount Patti, Lokoja ; May, 1899.
118. Dasychira remota (Druce). — a, h. Lokoja; December,
1899.
Family Limacodid^.
119. Parasa urda {Bruce). — a. Mount Patti, Lokoja; May,
1899.
120. Chilena sp. — a, h. Ilo ; January and March, 1899.
Family Notodontid^.
121. Zana sp.— a. Mount Patti, Lokoja; May, 1899.
Family Saturniid^.
122. BuRNEA CHRiSTYi, E. M. Sharpe, Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist.
(7) iii. p. 371 (1899). ? Burnea phcsdusa (Drury), Walk. Lepid.
Heter. v. p. 1229 (1855).— a. Jebba.
Sir George Hampson considers my B. christyi to be a variation
of B. phcednsa, Drury. As, however, there is another specimen
in the British Museum from Nigeria, which agrees with my type
in having the large ocelli on the fore wing, I think it is quite
probable that the two species are distinct.
123. BiiuN^A PYGM^A, Maassen, Beitrage ziir Schmett. f. 100.
Nudaurelia jehhce, E. M. Sharpe, Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. (7) iii.
p. 372 (1899).— a. Jebba; October, 1898.
124. Salassa maia (Klug). — a. Jebba.
125. Henucha smilax (Weshv.). — a. Jebba; November.
Family Lasiocampid^.
126. Metanastria ?contraria (TFaZA;.). — a. Jebba; November.
127. GoNOMETA CHRISTYI, sp. n. — Primaries : Ground colour
reddish buff, somewhat paler in colour on the hind margin ; two
transverse bands of a darker tint across the centre of the wing,
the basal line proceeding straight from the costa to the inner
margin. Secondaries : Yellowish buff with a satiny appearance,
rather deeper in colour along the inner margin and the base.
Under side : General colour reddish buff, the secondaries paler,
especially on the hind margin. Head, antennae, thorax, and
body reddish buff. Expanse of male, 3*6 in.
Hab. Jebba; November.
LIST OF LEPIDOPTEEA COLLECTED IN NIGEKIA. 107
Female. — Primaries bright reddish buff, with three darker
transverse lines, the two basal lines being only slightly waved ;
a faint suffusion of grey along the inner margin, and extending
over the discal area to the costa. Secondaries lighter in colour
than the primaries, and with a satiny gloss. Under side similar
to that of the male ; the hind marginal area of the secondaries
lighter in colour than the ground colour ; both wings devoid of
any spots or lines. Head, antennae, thorax, and body reddish
buff, the latter having a distinct gloss. Expanse, 5'6 in.
Hab. Jebba; November.
" The cocoons of this species were frequently seen on some of
the largest trees growing near the river bank at Jebba, not far
from the Juju-rock. They were usually placed in a cluster on the
under surface of a large bough. The caterpillar, an enormous
'woolly bear,' which I always associated with these cocoons, was
on several occasions brought to me in camp. Its colour was
dark reddish brown, much darker than the colour of the dead
hair woven into the cocoons." — C. C.
Family Cossid^.
128. AzYGOPHLEPS mcijVSA (Walk.).— a. Jebba; November.
•
Family Noctuid^.
129. Sphingomorpha MONTEiRONis (BwiL). — tt-e. Jebba; May.
130. Cyligramma limacina {Guer.). — a, b. Lokoja, 11,000 ft.
above the river ; May.
131. Ophisma indicabilis (Walk.). — a. Lokoja; May.
132. OpHiusAMBLicERTE(DrMr?/). — a. Leaba; December, 1899.
133. Eemigia archesia (Cram.). — a. Mount Patti, Lokoja;
May, 1899.
134. Plecoptera resistens {Walk.). — a. Ilo; March, 1899.
135. Entomogramma pardus (Guen.). — a. Jebba; May.
136. Hypocala plumicornis (Guen.). — a. Jebba; May.
137. Charidea cauta. — C/iantZea caiite, Hampson {mMSS.).
a. Mount Patti, Lokoja; May, 1899.
Family Geometridje.
138. ? AcROPTERis angulataria {Fabr.). — a, b. Jebba ; May
and October, 1899.
139. Pareumelea perlimbata {Guen.). — a. Sierra Leone ;
February, 1898.
Family Pyralid^e.
140. Phryganodes QUADRiGUTTATA(prrtZ^.). — a. Sierra Leouc ;
February, 1898.
141. Glyphodes simv at a. {Fabr.). — a. Mozum, Benue Biver;
June, 1899.
108 THE ENTOMOLOGIST.
ON SOME NEW GENERA AND SPECIES OF HYMENO-
PTERA (ICHNEUMONID^, CHRYSIDID^, FOSSORES,
AND APID.E).
By p. Cameron.
ICHNEUMONID^.
Amblyjoppa, gen. nov.
Antennae stout, slightly compressed and dilated between the middle
and the apex. Scutellum roundly convex, raised above the level of
the mesonotum ; its sides not margined, the apex with a flat, oblique
slope. The base of the median segment has a distinct oblique slope ;
the areola is somewhat horseshoe-shaped, slightly narrowed behind ;
it is flat, raised, smooth and shining ; the sides, except at the apex,
are furrowed, the farrows becoming wider and striated towards the
apex ; the posterior, median, and the spiracular areae only are clearly
defined ; there are no spines or projections, and the apex of the
segment has a gradually rounded slope. Areolet narrowed at the top.
Abdomen closely punctured ; the segments are closely punctured and
do not project much at the apex laterally. Legs stout; the apex of
the hinder femora does not extend beyond the third segment. The
post-petiole is wide and clearly separated; on the second segment only
the part between the gastrocoeli is striated. The abdomen is com-
paratively short, being not much longer than the head and thorax
united ; its apex is bluntly pointed and broad ; it is not quite half the
length of the penultimate ; the ovipositor is broad and projects.
The temples are obliquely and rather sharply narrowed ; the
occiput is roundly incised, and is sharply margined ; the malar space
is large ; the apex of the clypeus is transverse ; the labrum slightly
projects ; the second joint of the maxillary palpi is widely dilated ;
the mesopleural tubercles are long, narrow, and plate-like ; the ventral
keel extends on to the fourth segment, and is not very distinct. There
is a short stump of a nervure on the cubital-disco nervure. The wings
are dark-coloured.
The species I have included in this genus are large handsome
insects. The characteristics of the genus are the roundly convex
scutellum and the flat, raised, smooth and shining areola. The
median segment is completely areolated ; there are three basal
and five apical areae, besides the spiracular area. The basal
joints of the flagellum are elongated, more than three times
longer than wide ; the transverse median nervure is not quite
interstitial ; the transverse cubital nervures may be distinctly
separated above, or they may be almost united.
To this genus belongs " Iclmeamon" (elvanus, Cam.,* which
appears to be a common Indian species.
Amblyjoppa rufo-balteata, sp. nov.
Nigra, capite thoraceque flavo-maculatis ; abdominis medio late
''''■ ' Manchester Memoirs,' xl. pt. 4, p. 8.
SOME NEW GENEKA AND SPECIES OF HYMENOPTERA. 109
rufo, apice petioli flavo; pedibus nigris; tibiis tarsisque late flavis, tarsis
nigro- maculate ; alis fusco-violaceis, nervis stigmateque nigris. ? .
Hah. Khasia Hills (coll. Kothney).
Antennae stout, slightly dilated and compressed before the middle ;
the tenth to fifteenth joints white below ; the scape minutely punc-
tured, thickly covered with white pubescence. Head black ; the face,
clypeus, labrum, except in the middle, the inner orbits, the outer on
the lower half — narrowly above, broadly below, the yellow extending to
the base of the mandibles — pale yellow. Face and clypeus punctured,
thickly covered with short white hair ; the front above closely
punctured. Thorax black ; the edge of the pronotum, two short
lines shortly behind the middle of the mesonotum, the scutellum,
post-scutellum, two somewhat triangular marks on the sides of the
metanotum, extending on to the spiracular area, the tubercles, a large
mark on the under side of the mesopleurfe — rounded in front, obliquely
narrowed at the apex — pale yellow. Mesonotum opaque, distinctly
punctured in the middle, less distinctly and more closely on the sides;
and thickly covered with short fuscous pubescence. Scutellum roundly
convex, punctured, and thickly covered with long pale hair ; post-
scutellum smooth, thickly covered with fuscous hair. Median segment
rugosely punctured ; the supramedian area has the basal half narrowed;
the base in the middle transverse and slightly more than half the
width of the apex ; inside it is not depressed, is smooth and shining ;
the apex with two rows of punctures, the basal row not reaching to
the sides ; the posterior median and posterior intermedian area? are
stoutly transversely striated, the latter more strongly than the former.
Pro- and mesopleur^e closely punctured, their apices more or less
striated ; metapleuras closely rugosely punctured, above the middle
keel more or less obliquely striated. The lower part of the stigma and
the apical nervures are fuscous; the areolet five-angled, at the top
half the width of the bottom ; the recurrent nervure is received shortly
behind the middle. Legs black ; all the trochanters, the four anterior
coxfe, the apices of the four anterior femora, the anterior tibiae in front
and at the base behind, the basal part of the intermediate to shortly
beyond the middle and the basal two-thirds of the hinder pair, and an
irregular mark on the top and sides of the hinder femora — broad
above, narrow on the sides — pale yellow ; tarsi pale yellow, the basal
three joints at the apex and the apical two entirely black. Abdomen
black ; the apex of the petiole yellow ; the second and third segments
entirely, and the base and sides of the third, ferruginous. The petiole
is depressed in the centre above, the base irregularly roughened ; the
apex rugosely punctured ; the base of the post-petiole rugosely punc-
tured; the apex less strongly punctured ; the sides are closely, strongly,
obliquely striated ; the second, third, and fourth segments are closely
punctured ; the second closely, longitudinally striated at the base ;
the gastroccBli on their inner sides with curved striae.
AcANTHOJOPPA, gen. nov.
Antennae dilated and compressed beyond the middle. Scutellum
pyramidal, the base with an oblique slope ; the top roundly depressed ;
the sides of the top leaf-like ; the apex has a more abrupt slope, is
110 THE ENTOMOLOGIST.
shorter, and has its sides keeled. Median segment completely areo-
lated ; the base in the middle is depressed ; there are five basal areae
and three apical ones ; the areola is completely defined ; its base
transverse ; its sides oblique ; the sides at the apex are oblique ; the
apex rounded inwardly. The spines are long and stout ; the basal
depression is keeled laterally. Face flat, hardly projecting in the
centre ; the labrum projecting. Occiput widely incised. Temples
broad, obliquely narrowed. Areolet five-angled, narrowed at the top ;
the cubito-disco nervure has an almost obsolete stump of a nervure.
Wings hyaline, or slightly infuscated at the apex. Legs long ; the
apex of tiie hinder femora reaches to the fourth segment. Petiole long
and slender ; the post-petiole becomes gradually wider from the base
to the apex ; the second and third segments are closely aciculated ;
the others smooth ; the apical three segments become gradually
narrowed ; the last is largely developed ; the cerci are prominent ;
the ovipositor largely projects; the ventral keel is large, and extends
to the apex of the fifth segment.
The species of this genus known to me are uniforml}^ ferru-
ginous, with the wings hyaline, or yellowish-hyaline, at the most
only slightly smoky at the apex ; the antennae are similarly
coloured, darker towards the apex and lighter in the middle.
The median segment is more regularly and completely areolated
than usual ; the sides of the abdominal segments do not project
laterally. In the male the antennae are not distinctly serrate.
A distinct genus, easily known by the flat face, the completely
areolated median segment, with its stout spines ; the pyramidal
scutellum, deeply depressed on the top ; and the abdomen
narrowed at the apex, and with a long projecting ovipositor. In
the arrangement of Kriechbaumer and Ashmead, the genus
would come in near Cryptojoppa.
ACANTHOJOPPA SCHIZOASPIS, Sp. UOV.
Perruginea, facie, clypeo, pleurisque flavis ; antennis ferrugineis,
apice late nigris ; alis fulvo-fumatis, stigmate ferrugineo. ? .
Long. 15-16 mm.
Hah. Khasia (coll. Eothney).
Antennae rufo-fulvous, beyond the sixteenth joint black; the scape
punctured, thickly covered with short black hair ; the flagellum with
a pale down. Head rufo-fulvous ; the face and clypeus with a paler
yellower tinge ; closely and rather strongly punctured ; the apex of
the clypeus impunctate in the middle ; the labrum closely punctured ;
thickly covered with long fulvous hair. The apex of the mandibles
broadly black. Front very smooth and shining ; the vertex shagreened ;
the orbits yellow. The mesonotum dark rufous ; closely punctured,
thickly covered with short black hair. Scutellum large, pyramidal ;
the base with an oblique slope ; the apex almost perpendicular ; the
top roundly and deeply depressed ; the sides somewhat triangular,
rouuded; margined; the basal keels large, curved, acute; the basal
depression narrow, transverse, not very deep ; the hair thick, long,
blackish. Post-scutellum yellowish, with an obliquely rounded slope ;
SOUTH AFRICAN COCCID^. Ill
the centre closely and finely striated ; the sides with a few stout
striations ; the depressions at its sides wide, shallow, and marked
with stout keels ; the base of the median segment in the centre has a
rounded slope, deeply depressed in the middle, and bordered with a
stout keel round the sides and apex ; the apex is rugose. The supra-
median area is slightly wider than long ; the base almost transverse ;
the sides at the base oblique ; at the apex more sharply oblique ; the
apex bulges roundly inwardly ; the posterior median area is of almost
equal width throughout ; the teeth are large, broad ; the base of the
segment is strongly punctured ; the supramedian area has a few
oblique striations ; the apex strongly transversely striated. The upper
part of the propleurae is strongly punctured ; the centre at the base
with a few fine oblique striations ; the lower part at the middle and
apex with stout, irregular, mostly curved, keels. Mesopleur^e strongly
punctured ; the middle with some stout longitudinal striations ; the
tubercles large, elongate, leaf-like, roundly narrowed at the base and
apex. The base of the metapleurse above finely, the rest coarsely,
punctured, the punctures running into reticulations ; in front of the
hinder coxje are some stout oblique striations, and in front of these is
a stout curved keel. Mesosternum thickly covered with fuscous hair,
punctured; the furrows deep, much widened at the apex. Legs stout;
the four anterior coxae and trochanters more or less yellowish ; the
hinder strongly punctured ; the hinder tarsi spinose. The costa and
stigma are luteous ; the nervures darker ; the areolet narrowed at the
top, the transverse cubital nervures almost uniting there ; the first is
largely bullated at the top ; the second in the centre ; the recurrent
nervure is received in the centre of the areolet ; the transverse median
nervure is received distinctly in front of the transverse median. Petiole
yellowish at the base, the apex shagreened ; the sides at the apex with
some large deep punctures. The other segments are closely punctured;
blackish down the middle ; the gastrocoeli shallow, closely punctured ;
the space between them striated. The sheaths of the ovipositor
fulvous, densely haired ; the apex black.
(To be continued.)
SOUTH AFRICAN COCCID^.— II.
By T. D. a. Cockekell.
Aspidiotus (Marganella) maskelli, Gkll.
Botanical Gardens, Durban, Natal ; on twigs of Camellia
(Fuller). New to the African continent ; it has been found in
Mauritius by De Charmoy.
Hemichionaspis cyanogena, Ckll.
Verulam, Natal (Fuller). Botanical Gardens, Durban, Natal ;
on Alternaria (Fuller). The last-mentioned material showed
circumgenital glands as follows : median, 17 ; cephalolateral,
16 ; caudolateral, 13. The type had median, 11 ; cephalo-
lateral, 17 ; caudolateral, 15.
112 THE ENTOMOLOGIST.
Chionaspis exalbida, n. sp.
2 • Scales crowded, about If mm. long, convex, very narrow, pure
white, with yellow-brown exuviae ; the second skin has the basal half
covered with white secretion, but the apical half is bare and clear
brownish yellow.
5 , Deep carmine-red (turns green on boiling in caustic potash),
elongate, the margins of the segments nowhere projecting. Caudal
end scarcely chitinised ; no circumgenital glands ; the usual rows of
transverse dorsal glands, but they are irregular, with few glands ;
margin of caudal end with many lobules, which hardly take the form
of definite lobes ; the median lobules are rounded, and separated by a
rather wide interval, and present a projecting point at their outer
edge ; after these come two rounded prominences, then two rounded
depressions, separated by a prominence which is sometimes bifid ;
then comes a little projection, and then a large gently convex portion,
then a notch, and after that a few notches at rather distant intervals.
There are apparently no squames, but specimens which have not
been treated with potash show a short waxy fringe taking the place of
squames.
S' • Scales of the usual Chionaspis form, but texture quite dense ;
unicarinate, some faintly tricarinate.
On leaves of aloe, Howick, Natal {Fuller). This is not a true
Chionaspis, but there is no other genus to receive it.
PoUaspis carissce, n. sp.
? . Scale similar to that of P. cycadis, but perhaps narrower ;
second skin pale, as in cycadis.
$ . Similar to P. cycadis, but the strongly serrulate reddish-
brown median lobes are wide apart, the interval being nearly as great
as the breadth of a lobe ; the second lobe consists of two lobules, of
which the inner is the larger, and its tip projects a little beyond the
level of the tips of the median lobes ; the margin just beyond the
second lobe bears two large oval dorsal glands, like those of the series
on the next segments anteriorly ; there are only four dorsal glands in
the short rows nearest the anal orifice. The middle of the body is
red-brown, and strongly chitinised. Circumgenital glands in eight
groups ; the posterior laterals 19, middle laterals (cephalolaterals of
other genera), 11, median 5, in a transverse row, and the anterior
groups characteristic of PoUaspis form a transverse series broken into
three linear groups of three or four, which are widely separated.
(? . Scale tricarinate.
On Carissa (? C. grandiflora, DC), a plant which belongs to
the Apocynaceae. Durban, Natal {Fuller). In this species and
P. cycadis the anterior groups of glands are in transverse lines ;
in P. media, and the species described by Fuller from Australia,
the groups are circular.
Haliniococcus lampas, Ckll.
Mr. Fuller sends new material on the palm, Hyphcsiie crinita,
Gaertn. This palm is a native of Natal.
SOUTH AFRICAN COCCID^.
113
Dactylopius filamentosus, Ckll.
Mr. Fuller sends a large variety of this species on orange,
and says it is more common upon a native Domheya. The an-
tennae measure as follows in (a, joints : (1.) 30, (2 ) 42, (3.) 30-36,
(4.) 39-45, (5.) 24-30, (6.) 33, (7.) 75-78.
Ceroplastes candela, Ckll. & King, n. sp.
5 . Long. 2f , lat. 8^, alt. 4|nim. ; dark red-brown, elevated, with
vertical sides. Caudal horn a prominent stout spine, hardly f mm.
long, placed nearer the top of the scale than the base. Dorsum smooth
and shining, with only a very small central raised line. Sides of in-
sects with vertical stripes of dense white secretion ; no wax, except
that composing these stripes, between the insects, which are densely
crowded together, their vertical sides contiguous. They rest on a thin
substratum of wax, and are covered above with yellowish-white wax,
about 1 mm. thick. The outlines of the insects are vaguely marked
on the surface of the covering wax by a brownish stain. The wax,
with the insects beneath, surrounds the twigs as the wax does the wick
of a candle ; the whole mass is about 20 mm. diameter, that of the
twig being about 5 mm.
Mr. King found the antennae to measure thus in /a. :—
Joints: (1.) (2.) (3.) (4.) (5.) (6.) (7.)
Length : 56. 68. 56. 60. 28. 32. 40.
Breadth: 64. 48. 40. 32. 28. 28. 24.
Found by Mr. Fuller at Eichmond, Natal. The nearest ally is an
undescribed species from Paraguay, collected by Professor Bruner.
Ceroplastes egharum, Ckll., subsp. fidleri, T. D. A. & W. P. Ckll.,
n. subsp.
2 . Waxy scale hemispherical, long. 15^, lat. 12, alt. 10 mm. ; in
dry specimens rough, pale reddish, not divided into plates. ? . De-
nuded of wax hemispherical, very dark red-brown, long, 8^, lat. 8,
alt. 8 mm, ; sides infolded beneath, so that the inferior aperture is
considerably smaller than the diameter of the scale. Anterior end
narrowed and elevated, having the form of the end of a pig's snout.
Caudal horn distinct, but very short, about ^ mm. long ; a very deep
sulcus runs from below the caudal horn to the margin. Middle of
back with a prominence about as high as the caudal horn, but larger,
because lengthened posteriorly, having a keel-like form.
In caustic potash the female gives a deep madder-red colour ; this
colour is obliterated, leaving only a faint greenish tint, by the addition
of acetic or nitric acid. On adding more potash, so as to neutralise
the acid, the red colour is restored. The wax is not altered in colour
by chloroform.
Skin with several large (about 800 fi diam.) strongly chitinous red-
brown patches, thickly perforated with small gland-pores, recalling the
nozzle of a garden sprinkler. Legs ordinary, except that the femur is
very stout ; measurements in /x: femur with trochanter, 192 (width of
femur 95); tibia, 160; tarsus, 81; claw, 27. Tarsal digitules about
60 fx long, very fine hairs, with rather large round knobs. Claw-
digitules stout, about 36 //. long, with large dark brown knobs.
ENTOM. APRIL, 1902. K
114 THE ENTOMOLOGIST.
Sent by Mr. Fuller, labelled: "Large red Ceroplastes, on
Acacia and Mimosa, coast of Natal." Tliis is probably a valid
species ; Mr Fuller seems to consider it different from the ordi-
nary white species, C. egharum {cristatus, Green). Some time
ago Dr. Strachan sent me from Lagos a very large C. egharum —
waxy scale, long. 20, lat. 13, alt. 10 mm. —with the dorsal area
of the wax slightly pinkish. This seems to be another distinct
variety or subspecies, but the material was not sufficient for
satisfactory description.
Mr. Fuller writes that it is from the species of Ceroplastes
that the Kaffirs make their head-rings. The large white species
on Mimosa — I suppose G. egharum — is the one most commonly
used, as it is very plentiful. Mr. Fuller thus describes the pro-
cess : — " The head-rings are made from a mixture — half and half,
I am told — of calcined coccids and fresh material. Of course,
no effort is made to extract the insects, a fact which accounts no
doubt for the intense blackness of the rings."
East Las Vegas, New Mexico, U.S.A.
Jan. 14th, 1902.
NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS.
The Nomenclatuke of the Coccids. — In the course of revising
the genera of Coccidae, I have found the following new names and
changes of name apparently necessary : —
(1.) Ultraccelufitoma, new subgenus oi Cadostomidia; female adult
without mouth or legs; antennae more or less rudimentary. Type
Cailostumidia assiinilis [delostoma assimile, Maskell), from New Zealand.
(2.) Arctorthezia, new section of OrtJiezia ; female with waxy secre-
tion dense, not easily removed; wedge-shaped lamellje in dorsal line.
Boreal forms. ((7. occidentalis and 0. cataphracta.)
(3.) Bambusaspis new section of Asterolecanium ; scale elongated,
often very narrow ; living on bamboos and palms in the Tropics.
Includes A. miliaris, A. hamhmcB, A. delicatum, A. solenophoroides, A.
pahnce, A. urichi.
(4.) Phenacobryum, new section of Asterolecanium ; scale with laminae
resembling moss-leaves. A. bryoides (Maskell) and A. stellatum
(Maskell, as bryoides var.).
(5.) Ascelis, Schrader ; n. syn. Cystococciis, Fuller, Tr. Ent. Soc.
Lond. 1899, p, 462. [A. echuiiformis [Cystococciis echinlformis, Fuller) ).
T. D. A. CocKERELL ; E. Las Vegas, New Mexico, U.S.A. ; Feb. 2nd,
1902.
Note on Lakv^ of Chrysophanus phlobas. — I obtained a large
number of C. phloeas ova last October, from captured females. The
larvse duly hatched out, and have lived through the winter in a con-
servatory, but not heated, except by means of a lamp, just enough to
keep the frost from plants. Some of them appear to have fed all
through the winter and are now full grown, while others are smaller.
CAPTURES AND FIELD REPORTS. 115
Those found in the open to-day by my son were all very small. —
E. Sabine; The Villas, Erith, March 13th, 1902.
Catalogue of the Lepidoptera of Ireland. — There are three
points I am sorry not to see touched upon in the review of this Cata-
logue (mite, p. 54). First, why C'ceiioni/mpha typhon occurs further
south in Ireland than in England, i. e. why it should occur in the
Killarney district and not in the wilds of Dartmoor and Exmoor, in
Devonshire. Second, the occurrence of Bankia argentula both in the
English fen counties and in the west of Ireland, but not in the inter-
vening space. Third, why should our islands have been restocked
from the Continent since the climax of the Glacial Period ? One
question is, how long might the ova and pupae of insects remain
buried in the earth or in rubbish, beneath snow and ice ? If they can
do so for years, what occasion was there for our islands to be restocked ?
Another is, was not the greater part of Europe overwhelmed, as much
as our own islands ? What prevents our islands from being part of the
Arctic Regions but the changeability of the winds ? Should the wind
blow uninterruptedly from the north-east for twelve months or more,
we shall again have a glacial period. — C. W. Dale ; Feb. 8tli, 1902.
CAPTURES AND FIELD REPORTS.
CoLiAs HYALE NEAR Dartford IN 1902. — While out Collecting larv*
this morning, one of my sons saw a male of this species disporting
itself on the railway bank. It passed close by him several times,
apparently in good condition, its colour being very bright. I should
fancy this is a " record " early appearance. Are we to have a third
hyale year in succession ? — E. Sabine ; Erith, March 13th, 1902.
Thecla w-album and Colias edusa in Bristol District. — It might
interest some readers to know that 7'. iv-albuin was very common last
year in certain favoured spots at Bristol, while in the season of 1900
it positively swarmed. In the latter year C. edusa was very abundant
in Leigh woods and neighbourhood. — M. J. L. Davis ; Lyndhurst,
St. Ronnan's Avenue, Redland, Bristol.
Yorkshire Dragonflies. — Mr. H. J. Burkill sends the following
notes on Yorkshire dragonflies : — "In the ' Entomologist ' for
February last Cordulefjaster annulatus is reported for 1901, from York-
shire. I saw two insects of this species on Aug. 15th, 1901, in
Hayburn Wyke, a wooded ravine on the coast, six miles north of
Scarborough. Being unprovided with a net, I could do no more than
stalk them slowly, and on one occasion stood for nearly ten minutes
within five yards of one of the pair which was sunning itself on an
ash-trunk. I think there is no doubt as to the identity of the species,
the alternate yellow and dark bands being so very conspicuous. A
few miles further north, on Sept. 4th, 1899, I captured several
specimens of Sipnpetram scoticiuii on the moors. This last year, in
June, I found Libellula depressa very abundant on the cliffs south of
Scarborough, together with Ischnura eler/ans and a few Agrion pueila.
I might add that I picked up a dead male Calopteryx v'mjo, in the road
k2
116
THE ENTOMOLOGIST.
near Hackness, in August, 1897 or 1898. The insect had been run
over in the dust, but was almost perfect nevertheless." — W. J. Lucas.
Essex Dkagonflies. — As no records for dragonflies at Romford
exist, it cannot be out of place to mention that Eev. W. Claxton took
the two common species, Libellula depressa, male (May 22nd), and
Agrion puella, female (June 8th), in his garden at Navestock Vicarage,
in 1901.— W. J. Lucas.
Lepidopera Heterocera of Paris. — The following is a list of
Lepidoptera Heterocera obtained in the suburbs and environs of Paris
in June and July, 1901 : — Smerinthus tilicc, Eue des Dames Augustins ;
one specimen freshly emerged. Sphinx liijustri, two specimens ob-
tained from the lads of the racing stables, Maison Lafitte. Macro-
f/lossa stellatarum, Courbevoie, Forest of St. Germain, Pare Maison
Lafitte ; here, as elsewhere, on viper's bugloss. Saturnia pavonia
major, one specimen (given me at Hotel de la Gare, Fontainebleau).
Lasiocanipa riibi, ditto. Odoncstis potatoria, two specimens obtained
from the lads of the racing stables, Maison Lafitte. Enchelia jacobcecp,
one specimen taken. Pare Maison Lafitte. Liparis salicis, L. auriftua,
and L. chri/sorrhcea, one specimen, Boulevard Bineau, Neuilly. Arctia
villica, one specimen, Chantilly. Pluda gamma, a few seen, lucerne
field, Courbevoie. Venilia macalata, two captured, Forest of Fontaine-
bleau. Camptogramma hilineata, common, Pare Maison Lafitte and
Forest of St. Germain. In September, 1901 : — Macroglossa stella-
tarum, seen, Courbevoie. Saturnia pavonia major, seven specimens
obtained from the tram conductor, Port Marly. Smerinthus pnpuJi,
Sphinx ligustri, and Acherontia atropus, all in possession of tram con-
ductor, but in indifferent condition. Port Marly. — (Rev.) F. A.
Walker ; Dun Mallard, Cricklewood.
Notes from the Chester District. — On July 19th I took a larva
of Notodonta dictaa, and one of Acronycta abii, o& some red willows
near Shotwick. The first-mentioned emerged as a perfect insect on
August 18th — a representative of a second brood. The larva of A.
alni spun up on August 5th. On August 26th a friend sent me a
full-grown larva of Cossm lignipcrda in an ordinary chip match-box.
Fortunately it arrived safely, but it had so enveloped itself in a cocoon
that I left it as it was. About a month afterwards it bit its way out
into the cage, and then surrounded itself with another web. This, I
expect, from previous experience, to be its last performance before
appearing as a moth in June. Larvae of Smerinthus ocellatus were
common, here and there, on willows and sallows. From a single bush
near Saughall a friend and I gathered over a dozen on August 24th ;
but it was the only favoured shrub among six or eight. From sedges
by a pond side I got four pup^e of Plusia festucce in their long cocoons
of white silk on August 81st. The moths emerged between Sept. 2nd
and Sept. 13th, and I am inclined to look upon them as a third brood
(see Entom. xxxiv. 257). In a particular spot of Delamere Forest,
where branches of the Scotch firs are well within reach, I went to
beat for larvae of Macaria Uturata on Sept. 13th. The sooty melanic
form occurs with the type, and has been given the varietal name
nigrofulvata by Mr. J. Collins, of Warrington (Entom. xxxiv. 364).
Thunberg's name for the species was M. fuscata, and this sets one
CAPTURES AND FIELD REPORTS. 117
wondering if his type was our varietal form. I got three species of
larvae, and all very much like each other — M. liturata, Bupalus piniaria,
and Thera variata. Skipping minor points of difference, all were
, green, all about the same shape and size, and all were striped with
either white or yellowish white ; but the red-brown head, legs, and
claspers easily marked out M. litarata, while the white dorsal line of
B. piniaria separated the latter from T, variata. Some imagines of
T. variata appeared in October ; possibly others are lying over till next
June. But I was a week or more too late, and I did not get many
of either species. The August brood of Paranje megcBra showed up
numerously in the neighbourhoods of Saughall and Shotwick. The
under sides of this butterfly, with their delicate dark pencillings on a
grey ground, their marginal crescents and target-like discs (I am
referring to the secondaries), deserve more attention than perhaps
they receive. Among " varieties " I have little more to add. I
reared two or three dozen Odonestiii potatoria, and I believe the follow-
ing description holds generally good as far as the spots on the upper
wings are concerned: " A white central spot, and a small white spot
between it and the costa." One of my males is without this small
white spot. On Oct. 12th I went to Delamere Forest with a friend
who is great on fungi. These ephemeral things were the objects of
his visit, mine were as many imagines of Oporahia autumnata as I
could take. Fungi there were in profusion. Two species of the
" fairy-rings '' grew in the fields — the tasty champignon and the
equally common " puff-balls." In the woodlands there were fungi
scarlet, fungi violet, fungi white, and fungi chocolate. Broadly
speaking. Nature marks the poisonous species in brilliant colours, like
so many danger signals. On the birch trunks, no longer hidden by
denser foliage, -grew the fungus peculiar to these trees, PoUjporus
betuliniis. This, when dried, forms a capital substitute for cork. It
is pure white when dried and cut up, and the first exitomological
cabinet I ever saw was lined with strips of this fungus. By beating
the birches I sent on the wing three geometers, which, from their
silvery whiteness, may have been antunmata, but I failed to net them.
And I was obliged to give the birches up, for they were so charged, in
the early morning, with the rain-drops of the previous night, that
beating the branches was like standing in a shower-bath. My friend
left by a mid-day train, and I went to lunch at the 'Abbey Arms,' and
then to dessert in the forest off luscious blackberries, which nobody
seems to gather in these days of factory-made jams and "substitutes."
But this led me among, the oaks, and as everything was now dry, I
beat them for all I was worth, as I had accidentally started two or
three Oporabias from them. I got about two dozen altogether, in-
cluding nice banded forms and paler specimens. But, thanks to the
kind assistance of Mr. L. B. Prout, they all turned out to be U. dilutata.
The moral of this story, I should say, is keep away from oaks if you
want a7itumnata, and stick to alder and birch (Entom. xxxiv. 43). At
the electric lamps the luck continued, on the whole, deficient in
quantity, although very fair in quality. On August 20th I took a
moth new to the district, Asphalia diluta. Unfortunately it had been
trodden upon as it rested on the pavement below the lamp. In
September, Anchocelis lunosa was unusually plentiful, including pale
118 , THE ENTOMOLOGIST.
and dark forms. During the latter half of the month A. pistacina
appeared. This moth exhibited varieties leading from the type to the
uuicolorous and nearly spotless bright-chestnut form. On the other
hand, an intermediate pattern was so spotted as to strikingly remind
one of Basrjcampa nih'Kjhu'a. A few Kpitnda liitulcnta, all nearly black,
were also taken during the month. My best capture, however, was
on the 9th, a very fair specimen of Heliothis armujera. It is un-
doubtedly of British nationality, straw-coloured, instead of the dark
form I always rear, say a month earlier, from larvse found in foreign
tomatoes. According to Mr. Walker's list, this is the second capture
of the species in the district. P. festuca occurred again at the lamps,
Sept. 9th, fresh from the chrysalis ; and on the 21st one Agmtis saucia.
A grand male Dasypolin templi turned up on Oct. 10th. Winter
weather set in on Nov. 13th, with alternate rain, snow, and frost up
to the 26th, when mild weather prevailed and brought out Pcecilocmnpa
populi. Some individual examples of certain species occurred on such
extraordinary dates that they suggest second broods ; they were as
follows : — Hcpiaius hitmiili, a small but fresh female, August 24th ;
Spilosoina tnentkastri, Sept. 2ad ; Portkesia sii)iilis = auriftua, Sept. 8th.
J. Arkle ; Chester.
Notes from Dorking for the Season of 1901. — Of the four
seasons that I have lived in this neighbourhood, the one just past has
been far and away the best. I have worked hardest, like most of
those who are, comparatively speaking, beginners in entomology,
among the Diurni, intending to pay more attention to the Nocturni
when the former are more complete. I will go through in order the
forty-one species which I have taken here. Of course Pieris brassicte,
rapcE, and napi were in profusion, the first-named perhaps less so than
is the case sometimes. EncJdoe cdrdamines I took in plenty, especially
males, from May 7th till May 23rd. Colias ediisa was far from being
so common as last year, only one specimen coming in my way, and
that I did not take. C. hyaJe was seen on August 7th, and again on
the 12th, when I got a male in good condition. Goneptenjx rhamni,
for some reason or other, was far from common in the later summer,
though the hybernated specimens were very plentiful from April 1st
till the beginning of May. Among the Nymphalid^ I was very
successful, for besides breeding a fine series of Argynnis paphia, I took
A. aylaia and A. adippe in splendid condition from the beginning of
July till about the middle of that month. A. selene and A. euphrosyne
were also plentiful enough about the end of May. My A. paphia larvae
began to pupate on May 21tli, and went on doing so till June 9tli.
The first imago appeared on June iOth, and the last on June 25th.
Among the Vanessas, the larvae of V. urtica were swarming during
May and the first week in June, the first pupa appearing on June 4th,
and the first imago on June 17th. V. pnlychloros occurred in greater
numbers than I have previously experienced. The hybernated speci-
mens were quite common during the first fortnight of April ; the
larvae emerged from ova on May 13th and 14th, and pupated from
June 10th to the 14th. The imagines came out from June 29th till
July 2nd. I regard the profusion of this insect to be one of the
events of the year. But the other members of the genus were con-
CAPTURES AND FIELD REPORTS. 119
spicuous by their absence. I saw two hybernated specimens of V. io
on April 19th, but not a single V. atalanta or V. car did, though I
heard of V. atalanta being seen. Of course Epinephele ianira and
E. tithoniis were in profusion, and Satyrns (H.) semele was to be
obtained in some numbers about the end of July. Aphantopus [H.)
hyperanthus was as common as E. ianira about the third week in July;
and Ccenonympha painphilns was as usual too abundant to be pleasant.
Pararge (S.) vifytBra was common in August, and P. cyerides was to be
taken in the middle of May, and again in the middle of August.
Many of the Lycaenidae were in the utmost profusion, notably Thecla
rubi, from May 12th till June 6tli ; Lyccena icarus, of course more
than once ; L. adonis during the latter half of May and again towards
the end of August ; L. curydon from July 20th to August 8rd ; L.
argiolm from May 1st to the 23rd, and again at the end of July; and
Chrysophanus phJceas in the middle of May, in the middle of July, and
again in the middle of August, one being seen as late as September
the 29th. All the above Lycjeuidae were very abundant, but others
occurred alsoi Though I have not yet succeeded in finding either
Thecla w-album or T. querciis here, a friend sent me some pup© of
both these species, and I have got a fine series of each. L. cBgon must
abound somewhere here, but I have hitherto only found one or two
specimens at a time, and it has been the same with L. ayestis. L.
minima {alsus) was quite plentiful towards the end of June and up to
the middle of July, but was not in such numbers as cor y don, adonis,
icarus, or argiolus. An enthusiastic entomologist called on me one day
(July 15th), and, in return for the meagre information I could give
him as to this locality, he most generously gave me two fine specimens
of L. avion, caught during the previous week in Cornwall. The second
event of the season for me has been the successful rearing of Nemeobius
liicina to the pupal stage. Tliis insect is found near here in some
numbers, and from May 15th to the 29th I took a fair quantity, being
fortunate enough to secure a male and female in coitu. I placed the
female in a cylinder with a primrose-root, and got a large batch of
ova. The larvse appeared on June 4th, and began to pupate on
July 8th. I wondered whether the imagines would emerge this year,
seeing that the pupae were somewhat early ; but none of those I kept
have done so, nor can I hear of the emergence of any that I sent away
to friends. Of the Hesperidae, I have taken five : — Thanaos tages and
Syrichthus malva; in May and the early part of June ; Hesperia sylvamis
in June and July ; H. tlummas and H. comma in July. The very
interesting article in this month's ' Entomologist ' (xxxiv. 325-328) on
the "Life-history of H. comma," has led me to hope that I may breed
some next year.
So much for the Diurni, to which, as I said before, I have paid
most attention, though I feel sure I have not yet exhausted the species
to be found in our neighbourhood. T. quercus and probably T. w-album,
occur somewhere in the district, and Mdanargia galatea must be about
also ; in fact, I have been told of its capture, though I could not
ascertain the precise locality.
What I have done among the Nocturni has been chiefly breeding
from ova or larvae sent me by friends. I tried sugaring to a limited
extent in August, but, like your correspondent, Mr. A. J. Lawrence, of
120 THE ENTOMOLOGIST.
Bromley (vide Entora. xxxiv. p. 354), I met with no success at all.
Woodlice and earwigs appeared in plenty, but not a single moth.
Curiously enough, a young friend of mine who was sugaring on the
same nights about half a mile away was fairly successful ; the chief
results he obtained being A. pijmmidea, T. fimbria, and others of the
same genus. I did very little net-work, but by means of light, or
dusking, or by beating in the daytime, I took the following : — S.
Hgustri, M. stellatarmn, H. bombtjiiformis, Z . JilipcndulcB, E. jacobcea,
P. bucephala, C. f/raminis, T. orbona, T. comes, T. prunuba, M. maura,
P. moneta, E. mi, E. glypJiica, C. nupta, U. saynbucaria, R. luteolata,
V. macularia, M. margaritaria, C. elinguaria, E. alniaria, G. vernaria,
A. grossrilariata, and E. cervinata.
As to breeding, I have mentioned in former notes (vide Entom. xxxiv.
pp. 229 and 258) liow that several Sphingidre, S. ligustri, S. ocellatus,
S. populi, and S. tilicB, were much earlier this year than usual, and
how I got a double brood of S. ocellatus and S. pnpuli. I expected the
same to occur with S. tilice, but it did not. I experienced a complete
failure with some larvte of Hgloicus [S.) pinastri, which, died off after
the fourth moult. A batch of about a dozen C. elpenor fed up success-
fully on vine, and began pupating on August 11th, but several died
in the attempt, and I am left with seven healthy pupte. Larvse of
E. jacob(d(B were very plentiful on ragwort during the latter part of
July ; and on May 29th I found two fine larvse of A. caia, which,
however, refused to feed in confinement, and died before reaching the
pupal stage. A batch of ova of Z. cbscuU, which were given me,
yielded larvfe on July 23rd, which are at present feeding inside a piece
of apple-wood, as are also four larvje of C. lignipcrda. I was very
successful with Lymantria (0.) monacha, which fed up on apple. The
larvffi emerged on April 19th and 20th, pupated during the early part
of June, and imagines began to appear on June 26th. Out of fifteen
larvffi of Malacusoma {B.) neustria, also fed on apple, and which began
to pupate on June 23rd, only four imagines resulted, the first appear-
ing on July 11th. This autumn I have taken a number of larvae of
Maciothylacia (B.) rubi, which continued to feed on bramble up to the
beginning of November, when they retired for the winter. A dozen
larvffi of Losiocampa {B.) qnercus were sent me on April 80th. They
were fed on poplar, and the first four spun up on May 16th or 17th.
A male appeared on July 11th, two females on July 12th, and one
female on July 19th. But the remaining eight went on feeding slowly
till the first week in August, and are hybernating as pupte. A brood
of E. versicolor came out on April 21st, and were full fed by the first;
week in June ; and a batch of H. carpini, which emerged on May 30th,
fed up on willow till July 7th to 10th. Frequently on a hot day I
have noticed the pupte of this insect wriggling about inside the cocoon,
the result being a harsh grating noise. I had a very late brood of
Pheosia (N.) dictcea sent me from Bexley, the last of which did not
cease feeding till Nov. 1st. During the previous week or ten days I
had experienced considerable difficulty in getting fresh poplar leaves
for them. I had a batch of ova of C. fraxini sent me from abroad,
and from these (larvfe emerged April 27th till May 9th, pupated
June 17th and next ten days) I got, from July 20th to August 4th, a
fine series of imagines. They are very fine insects, and I experienced
SOCIETIES. 121
no diflSculty with them, for tliey fed quite readily on poplar. Why,
then, do they not breed freely in England ? Simultaneously with
these I was breeding C. nnpta and C. spoyisa. The conditions were
precisely similar in all three cases. Sponsa emerged from ova on
April 23rd, 24th, and 25th, pupated May 28th to -June 2nd, imagines
appeared July 1st to 6th. Niipta larvse came out April 27th till
May 9th, spun up during the first week in June, and arrived at
maturity July 7th to 17th. They are all very fine insects, and their
breeding afforded me much pleasure. I brought through a summer
brood of S. illustraria , which fed on birch from May 20th till June 11th.
They grew very rapidly, and produced fine imagines from June 29th
to July 4th. This struck me as being very quick work — i.e. forty
days from ovum to imago, under natural conditions. I got some ova
from a female, and hoped to rear a second brood, but unfortunately
they all proved to be unfertile. A batch of E. fuscantaria, fed on ash
from May 19th to June 21st, produced a good series, which emerged
at intervals between July 22nd and August 17th. A very fine female
of A. betularia var. douhledaijarid was sent me from Yorkshire, together
with a number of ova she had laid. Swarms of larvfe appeared on
July 5th and 6th. They fed up successfully on lime, and pupated
between August 20th and 26th, with the exception of one, which went
on feeding till September 21st. Four Kuonifuius bushes in my garden
were, as last year, swarming with larvae of A. grosfiularidta : but
though I examined about a hundred of the resultant imagines, I failed
to find any that were not typical.
The above represents the bulk of my work during the season of
1901, which I think I may fairly call a very satisfactory one. — F. A.
Oldaker ; Parsonage House, Dorking, Dec. 7th, 1901.
SOCIETIES.
Entomological Society of London. — March 5th, 1902. — The Kev.
Canon Fowler, M.A., F.L.S., President, in the chair. — Dr. B. Douglas
Macdonald, M.D., of Malsette, Ehodesia, S. Africa ; and Mr. Arthur
M. Montgomery, of the Grove, Ealing, W., were elected Fellows of
the Society.— Mr. L. B. Prout exhibited, on behalf of Mr. J. P. Mutch,
of Hornsey Eoad, London, N. : — {a) Vanessa (Enyonia) pohjchloros, L.,
a female bred by Mr. H. Baker from pupa from Stowmarket, Suflblk,
the ground colour much darkened and the black markings somewhat
enlarged, &c. ; suggesting perhaps the influence of cold at time of
pupation (compare Tr. Eut. Soc. 1894, p. 431, &c.). [h) Chrijsophanus
phlceas, L., an aberration (captured in the Isle of Wight, August, 1901)
much suffused with the dark colour, especially at outer margin and on
hind wings, only a very small patch of the red colour remaining at
the inner angle of the latter, (c) Ar/rotis jmta, Hb., a perfectly halved
gynandromorphous example, the right side male, the left side female,
taken in August, 1901, in the Isle of Wight, [d) Noctua sobrma, Gn.,
an aberrant specimen with white antennaB and a somewhat hoary
appearance on the fore wings, taken in East Aberdeenshire, August,
1900. — Mr. A. Bacot exhibited a series of Malacosoma castrensis and a
122 THE ENTOMOLOGIST.
series of M. neustria for comparison with a hybrid brood, resulting
from a pairing between a male neustria and a female castrensis. Only
a portion of the batch of from two hundred to three hundred ova that
the female laid hatched. The la?t of the females that eventually
emerged was three weeks ahead of the first male, and most unfortu-
nately before any males of either of the parent species, so that the
fertility of the hybrid females could not be tested. Their bodies
apparently contain few, if any, ova. Mr. Bacot said lie had every
reason to believe, however, that he obtained pairings between the
hybrid males and females of cdstrensis, in addition to fresh pairings
between males of neustria and females of castrensis, and therefore had
hopes of continuing the experiment next summer. Mr. J. W. Tutt
said this was the first time any exhibition of experiments of the kind
had been made before the Society by British investigators, though
Mr. Merrifield had shown a number of crosses bred by Dr. Standfuss.
In this case the colouring of the female hybrids, departing from the
usual colour of the females of the parent species, appeared to approach
more nearly in tint the females of the closely-allied Alpine species
M. alplcola, and it would be interesting to discover whether the
peculiarity of colour in the hybrid females really marked a tendency
to revert to a more primitive type of coloration, such, for example,
as that exhibited by M. alpicola. The sexes, as exhibited, were
very clearly distinguishable, and there was not much tendency to
gynaudromorphism, though of sixty or seventy specimens almost every
female showed some signs of male coloration. — Mr. 0. E. Janson
exhibited a pair of Stephanocrates dohertiji, Jord., a goliath beetle
discovered by the late W. Doherty in the highlands of British East
Africa. — -Dr. T. A, Chapman exhibited cocoons of a Limacodid moth
from La Plata, with empty pupa-cases of a dipterous parasite of the
genus Sijstropus, obtained from Herr Heyne, who unfortunately had no
imagines either of the moth or the fly. There is a close resemblance
between the two pupa-cases, as seen by comparison with genuine
Limacodid cases. The resemblance is, however, not merely of appear-
ance, but functional also. Tlie moth pupa, i.e. the moth itself inside
the pupa-case, almost certainly by inflating itself with air, to secure
greater size and a stifiened epiderm as a basis of muscular action,
exerts an end-to-end pressure within the cocoon, and so forces off a
lid. It is here that the beak or " cocoon-opener," with which the
pupa is armed, is useful as determining that the fracture shall be at
the right end, making the lid split off here, under much less pressure
than would be efficient without it, and leaving no chance for fracture
to occur at the wrong end when pressure is equally distributed. The
Systropus breaks off a similar lid, no doubt by similar end-to-end
pressure to that exerted by the moth, Diptera having highly developed
the habit of inflating themselves with air, at emergence from the
pupa. This pupa also has a beak very like that of the Limacodid, but
even stronger and sharper. — Dr. Chapman also showed a Bombyliid
pupa-case from West Africa, very like that of some British forms, the
head-armature of which is not a "cocoon-opener," but an excavating
or navvying machine, for use in burrowing a way out of loose soil,
such as that in which solitary bees' nests are found. The pupa of an
African species of practically the same habits as this South American
SOCIETIES. 123
one is described and figured in Prof. Westwood's Monograph of the
genus Si/stroinis in the ' Transactions ' for 1876. — Mr. J. E. Collin, in
further illustration of Dr. Chapman's remarks, exhibited specimens
of: — ■{(() Si/xtropus sp. ?, from Buenos Ayres, parasitic on a Bombyliid
Lepidopteron (Limncodes ?). This he said was possibly the same as
Dr. Chapman would have reared from his cocoons. The species was
apparently undescribed, but most allied to S. brasiUensis, Meg. As
Prof. Westwood noticed in 1876, the insect is very slender to inhabit
so stout a pupa-case, ib) Systropus sp.?, a large handsome undescribed
species from Bigot's collection. — Professor Poulton, F.E.S., introduced
a paper by Mr. Guy A. K. Marshall, entitled, "Five years' (1897-1901)
observations and experiments in the bionomics of South African
insects, dealing especially with warning colours and mimicry, with
appendices containing descriptions of new species by Col. C. T.
Bingham and W. L. Distant." The paper was illustrated by many
photographs projected on the screen showing the groups of South
African insects of many orders collected by Mr. Marshall, each with a
common type of warning coloration. Some of these groups included
mimetic species of great interest. An important section of the paper
contained the description of a long series of careful experiments con-
ducted upon the chief vertebrate and invertebrate insect enemies of
South Africa. The number of new facts is so large ; the experiments
so numerous and complete ; and the range of observation extended
over so many Orders, in addition to the much-studied Lepidoptera,
that this memoir places South Africa in the first rank as the country
from which the chief evidence in support of existing theories of
mimicry, warning colours, &c., has been supplied. A discussion
ensued, in which Mr. F. Merrifield. Dr. F. A. Dixey, Prof. Hudson
Beare, Colonel Yerbury, Mr. J. W. Tutt, and Prof. Poulton took part.
— Mr. Malcolm Burr, B.A., F.L.S., contributed "A monograph of the
genus Acrida, with notes of some allied genera, and descriptions of
new species," and Dr. D. Sharp, F.R.S., communicated three papers
by Mr. R. C. L. Perkins, respectively entitled: — {a) "Notes on
Hawaiian wasps, with descriptions of new species"; (b) "Four new
species and a new genus of parasitic Hymenoptera (Ichneumonidfe)
from the Hawaiian Islands" ; and (c) " On the generic characters of
Hawaiian Crabronidae; four new genera characterized." — H. Goss and
H. Rowland-Bkown, Hon. Sees.
South London Entomological and Natueal History Society. —
February ISth, 1902.— Mr. F. Noad Clark, President, in the chair. —
Mr. South exhibited a specimen of Cydimon {Urania) leihis from St.
Kitts, one of the Leeward group of the West Indies. The species is
common along the north coast of South America and in Trinidad, but
has not hitherto been taken in this island. — Mr. McArthur, some
specimens of Eupceciiia yilvicomana taken about forty years ago by
Standish, and stated that the species had not since been obtained in
this country. — Mr. H. Moore exhibited an exceedingly fine specimen
of the orthopteron Sanaa imperialis from Sylhet in North India. — Dr.
Chapman, specimens of Hypotia cortical is from the Riviera, a species
having some of the characters of the genera Pyralis and Phycita,
and for which he had proposed a new genus. — Rev. F. P. Perry, a
124 THE ENTOMOLOGIST.
large number of Coleoptera from the Transvaal and Orange Colony
taken by himself during a short residence in South Africa.
Fehruarij 2i7th. — The President in the chair. — Mr. South exhibited
a specimen of a very interesting form of Macaria litnrata, which he
had received from Mr. J. Arkle, who took it, with others, in Delamere
Forest last year. Tliis form is heavily suffused with fuliginous brown ;
it has been figured in vol. vi. of Barrett's ' Lepidoptera of the British
Islands,' and Mr. Collins has recently proposed the name ni(jrofulvata
for it (Entom. xxxiv. 364). — Mr. McA.rthur, an example of Ar/rotis
segetiim, having a narrow, very dark marginal band on each of the
hind wings, the white ground colour and fringes making it a very
conspicuous character. — Mr. Edwards, an unusually large and perfect
nest of Ve&pa vtdi/aris, obtained near Rochester in a hollow tree. — Dr.
Chapman, specimens of Crinoptenjx yancUiella bred from larvfe. It
belonged to the lower section of the Adelidje, and lived in cases like
the Coleophorte, to which it had no structural relation whatever. —
Mr. R. Adkiu, long bred series of Acidalia marfjiitepunctata, and read
a paper on them entitled, "A Life-cycle of Acidalia marginepunctata.''^
A discussion ensued, when it was pointed out that the genus certainly
required subdivision, both on account of diversity of structure and of
distinction of habit. — Hy. J. Turner, Hon. Rep. Sec.
Birmingham Entomological Society. — January 20^/t. — Mr. H.
Willoughby Ellis, Vice-President, in the chair. — The following were
exhibited : — By Mr. R. C. Bradley, a series of Hyetodesia vayans,
a species which is not included in Mr. G. H. Verrall's recent list
of British Diptera, but which is common and well-known in Sutton
Park ; also a specimen of Sphex phniipennis taken by Mr. J. T.
Fountain in Jersey last year. It is a large and handsome Fossore,
which is uncommon in Britain. By Mr. C. J. Wainwright, Khyssa
persuasoria, one of our largest, handsomest, and rarest Ichneumonids,
taken by Mr. J. T. Fountain in Derbyshire last year; also a fine series
of Trupidia scita (viilesiforniis), taken near Paignton, South Devon,
in a damp meadow by the sea ; it is a species which is common
in the fens, but was not known before from the West of England ; it
was, however, in abundance at this one spot. By Mr. H. Willoughby
Ellis, the following Coleoptera : — Xebria yyllenhali, from Matlock ;
PterosticJms uhlongo-punctatus, from Buxton, and Liusoma ovatulum var.
collaris, from Knowle. The last-named was a form which he said
some Coleopterists believed to be only an immaturity, but he had taken
it at all times of the year, and many specimens were undoubtedly
mature. By Mr. Aug. D. Imms, extreme forms of Satyrus semele,
from Wales ; one, very dark and strongly marked, came from near
Barmouth, and was taken on the slate ; and the other, a light,
bleached-looking, but apparently perfect specimen, from near Llan-
dudno, where it was taken on limestone. Mr. Imms read a paper
upon " The Structure and Distribution of the Collembola," in which
he gave a thorough account of the external and internal anatomy,
with some account of the embryology, and illustrated it with black-
board drawings and microscope preparations.
February 11th. — Annual Meeting. — Mr. G. T. Bethune-Baker,
President, in the chair. — The Thirteenth Annual Report of the
Council was read, and the Treasurer's Annual Report presented,
SOCIETIES. 125
showing a slight balance in the Society's favour. — The following
officers were elected for 1902: — Mr. G. H. Kenrick, F.E.S., President ;
Mr. G. T. Bethune-Baker, F.L.S., F.E.S., Vice-President ; Mr. R.
C. Bradley, Treasurer; Mr. A. H. Martiueau, F.E.S., Librarian ; and
Mr. C. J. Wainwright, F.E.S , Secretary. The following were also
elected on to the Council : — Messrs. H. Willoughby Ellis, F.E.S. ; J.
T. Fountain ; W. Harrison, and G. W. Wynn. — Mr. A. D. Imms ex-
hibited, by means of a lantern, a series of microscopic preparations of
the Collembola, including specimens of typical species and sections,
&c. — Mr. J. T. Fountain showed a series of Selenia hilunaria, Esp.
[illunariit, Hb.), of different broods ; including a series bred June to
August of \a.v. jnliaria, Haw., and others bred November to March, all
of the usual spring form. — Mr. A. H. Martineau showed Hymenoptera
taken at Budleigh Salterton, South Devon, at beginning of August
last year, including Andrena pilqjes, F,, and A, thoracica, F., both
from bramble bloom ; Astatiis boops, Schr., taken at blossoms of gorse;
Andrena denticulata, Kirb. ; Jornada fiicata,Vd.nz.; Dasypoda hirtipes,
Latr. ; Hedycridium roseum, Rossi, the parasite of Astatus hoops, Schr. ;
and Trypoxylon firjulus, L., with cells which had been found in sand,
instead of in the more usual wooden posts. — Colbran J. Wainwkight,
Hon. Sec.
Lancashire and CnEsmRE Entomological Society. — The Annual
Meeting was held at the Royal Institution, Liverpool, on January 13th,
Mr. R. Wilding, Vice-President, in the chair. — Mr. Frederick Birch,
Joint Secretary, in presenting the Council's report, gave a short resume
of the work of the past session. The Treasurer then read his state-
ment, which showed an increased and satisfactory credit balance to be
carried forward. The following officers were elected to serve during
1902 :— President, Mr. S. L. Capper, F.L.S., F.E.S.; Vice-Presidents,
Rev. R. Freeman, M.A., and Dr. H. Dobie ; Secretaries, Messrs. Fredk.
Birch and E. J. B. Sopp, F.R.Met.Soc, F.E.S.; Treasurer, Dr. J.
Cotton, F.E.S. ; Librarian, Mr. F. C. Thompson ; Council, Messrs. R.
Wilding, F. N. Pierce, F.E.S., A. Tippins, H. Tonkin, W. A. Tyerman.
In the absence of the President, the retiring Vice-President, Mr. R.
Wilding, delivered a most interesting address, reviewing the general
entomological work and literature of the first year of the century, with
special reference to several matters of local importance. The Rev. R.
Freeman proposed, and Mr. F. N. Pierce seconded, a vote of thanks to
Mr. Wilding, both for his able address and for his valuable services in
the chair during the past year, which was heartily accorded. On the
motion of Mr. Sopp, a cordial vote of thanks was also tendered to
Mr. Fredk. Birch, for his indefatigable labours as Secretary during
the past three sessions. The following exhibits were made during the
evening : — Ccelinxys mandihularis, a Hymenopteron new to the British
list, taken at Wallasey, by Mr. Birch, who also exhibited, on behalf
of the Rev. T. B, Eddrup, various species of Lepidoptera sent for
distribution amongst students of the group ; Vanessa c-alhum, captured
in the Liverpool district, by Mr. G. A. Dunlop ; and Corydia petitveriana,
an attractively marked cockroach from Madras, by Mr. Sopp.
February 10th. — Mr. R. Wilding in the chair. — A valuable paper
was read by Mr. Willoughby Gardner on the life-habits of the
126 THE KNTOMOLOGIST.
Hymenoptera-Aculeata, dealing in a full and complete manner with
all that is at present known of the life-history of these most useful
hexapods. After describing the characteristic features of the order as
a whole, he exhaustively reviewed the various families constituting
■ the section Aculeata, the females of which are armed with a retractile
sting. Dealing first with the Heterogyna, or social ants, he gave
many facts of interest connected with the instinct and economy of
these remarkable insects, and mentioned that most of our indigenous
species belonged to the family Formicidse, or mining ants. He also
described the methods pursued by the Fossores in the capture and
preservation of their prey. Of the Diploptera, or true wasps, two
families are native to Britain ; their value on account of their whole-
sale destruction of lepidopterous and other injurious larvfe being fully
discussed. After enumerating the coleopterous and other inmates of
the nests of Vespa vnlf/dris and V. (/ermanica, the lecturer passed to a
consideration of the Anthophila, or bees, alluding to the great part
played in nature by these pollen -loving insects in the fertilization of
clover and other plants. Having referred to Gulletcs cimicularia, our
" Wallasey bee," and Ccelioxys mundibularis, a recent local addition to
the British list, the concluding portion of the address was devoted to
the life-history of Apis mellifica, the common honey bee, in which
many interesting, historical, economic, and other matters were ably
dealt with. At the close of his paper Mr. Gardner presented his
recent monograph on the Hymenoptera-Aculeata of Lancashire and
Cheshire to the library of the Society. A hearty vote of thanks was
tendered Mr. Gardner for his interesting paper, and also for his
welcome gift, after which the following exhibits were made : — Bem-
bidiiini saxatile, from Garston, by Mr. F. Birch ; B. stomoides, from the
River Hodder, by Mr. C. E. Stott ; Tropiphorns tomentosus (Heswall),
Berosus affinis (Moreton), Reptanlacus viUosiis and Mgialia ru.fa (Wal-
lasey), Carcinops l-istriata, &c., by Mr. R. Wilding ; and a pair of the
earwig Pi/rar/ra braziliemix, from Espirito Santo, by Mr. E. J. B. Sopp.
Mr. G. 0. Day also exhibited some rare Dutch books by Sepp, the
life-like coloured figures in which were greatly admired ; and Mr. Oultou
Harrison showed some excellent life-size photos of lepidopterous larv®
taken direct from nature. — E. J. Burgess Sopp, Hon. Sec.
RECENT LITERATURE.
Handbook of the Natural Histori/ of Glasgoiv and the West of Scotland.
(Pp. i-x ; 1-567. Glasgow. 1901.
A series of handbooks have been prepared by the Local Committee
in connection with the Meeting of the British Association for the
Advancement of Science, held last year in Glasgow ; the volume under
notice being one of these. It is edited by G. F. Scott-Elliot, Malcolm
Laurie, and J. Barclay Malcolm, and deals with the Fauna, Flora,
and Geology of the Clyde area. The several lists seem to have been
prepared with care, those treating of the Insecta extending to 103
pages. The number of species enumerated in each of the Orders,
with which we are specially concerned, together with the names of the
RECENT LITERATURE. 127
compilei's of the respective lists, and also the nomenclature adopted,
are shown in the following table : — • ,
Hymenoptera-Terebrantia(Konow). ByAnd. AdieDalglish 119 species.
Hymenoptera-Aculeata (Saunders). By J. Russell Malloch 104 ,,
Lepidoptera. "Macro" (Meyrick). By And. Adie Dalglish 515 ,,
Lepidoptera. '-Micro" (Meyrick). By James J. F.X.King 390 ,,
Diptera (Verrall). By Percy H.Grimshaw & R. Henderson 506 ,,
Coleoptera (Sharpe & Fowler). By Anderson Fergusson 988 ,,
Trichoptera (M'Lachlan). By James J. F. X. King ...108
Hemiptera Heteroptera (Saunders). By John E. Murphy 116 ,,
Hemiptera Homoptera (Edwards). By J. M. B. Taylor 119 ,,
Odonata (Lucas). By J. J. F. X. King ... ... ... 8 ,,
Orthoptera (Burr) By J. J. F. X. King 13
Neuroptera-Planipennia(M'Lachlan). By J. J. F. X. King 25 ,,
Collembola & Thysanura (Carpenter & Evans) By D.A.Boyd 38 ,,
The sequence of the Orders is somewhat unusual, and we are sur-
prised that no mention is made of the Neuropterous families Psocid^e,
Perlidse, and Ephemeridae.
Additional value to this important work is the inclusion therein of
a large Bathy-Orographical map of the Clyde Basin, which was
specially prepared for the Meeting of the British Association.
The Stridulating Organs of Watei-biigs (Rhynchota), especially of Corixidce.
By G. W. KiRKALDY, F.E.S. In the ' Journal of the Quekett
Microscopical Club, April, 1901.
After passing carefully in review the observations and opinions of
writers who have referred to this subject, from Frisch, in 1740, to
Handlirsch, in 1900, the author states his belief that stridulation is
brought about in these insects by a method different from any
previously suggested. " In 1874 Landois described the ' comb ' on
the anterior tarsus of the male in CorLva, and its action (as he thought)
on the last segment of the rostrum." Kirkaldy, however, brings to
notice the fact which he has discovered, that there is " on the inner
surface of the femora (in the males only), near the base, a specially
modified area of minute chitinous pegs arranged in regular rows."
These fornj the stridulating area. In the author's opinion " the
' comb ' of the left tarsus is drawn somewhat obliquely across the
femur of the right leg, or vice versa," and in this way stridulation is
brought about. This paper, which extends to fourteen pages, contains
much valuable information on the structure and stridulation of water-
bugs, the text being illustrated by two clear plates containing details
from no fewer than twenty-six different species. tx/- j Lucas
Fauna Hawaiiensis. — Vol. i. pp. 277-364. Plates 8 and 9. Hymeno-
ptera Parasitica. By W. H. Ashmead (August, 1901). Vol. iii.
pp. 1-77. Plates 1-3. Diptera. By P. H. Grimshaw (Dec, 1901).
One hundred and twenty-eight parasitic Hymenoptera are recorded
by Mr. Ashmead, doubtless a small proportion of the forms actually ex-
isting in the Hawaiian Isles ; of these, eighty-seven are new to science.
Of the fourteen families represented, all have a wide geographical
range; the 128 species are distributed among sixty -nine genera, of
128 THE ENTOMOLOGIST.
which eleven are peculiar, so far, to the islands, nearly all the others
being cosmopolitan.
Our previous knowledge of this fauna was very meagre, four
papers only being cited. The same remarks apply to the Diptera,
only four short papers having been published previously. Mr. Grim-
shaw records 150 species — ^106 new to science — but regards the Diptera
as still imperfectly known, as 134 species have as yet been noted from
a single island. The great families Tipulidre (s. s.), Tabauidfe, Bom-
byliidae, and Empidre, are entirely absent, while the Orthorrhapha
Brachycera are very sparsely represented. The Anthomyiidte and
Drosophilidse furnish the bulk of the forms, Drosophila, Fallen, being
represented by nearly fifty species.
G. W. K.
Economic : A. D. Hopkins, " Insect Enemies of the Spruce in the
North-East" (1901, U.S. Dept. Agric. new series, Bull. 28,
pp. 1-48 ; Plates i-xvi).
Db. Hopkins is well known as the leading American authority on
forest -tree insects, and has produced what must prove a valuable aid
for practical measures in combating the damage occasioned to spruce
by (principally) certain Coleoptera. An excessive death of spruce
occurred in the Northern United States during the last century, to the
extent of many billions of feet of timber, much of it a total loss.
The principal depredator was a hitherto uudescribed Scolytid beetle
{Dendroctonits piceaperda, Hopkins), which attacks even apparently
healthy trees, the largest trees and best stands of timber being most
affected. The broods of the beetle do not remain in a tree more than
a year after it commences to die, and out of one tree from five to seven
thousand adults, on an average, may emerge. Their principal
enemies are woodpeckers — which destroy from fifty to seventy-five per
cent, on many trees in one year — aided by an ant-like predaceous
beetle (Thunasiiiins) a,nd a parasitic Hymenopteron {Bracon simplex).
Remedies are also indicated and discussed. The beetles described are
figured detailedly, and photographs of their mines and galleries, and
of the trees in various stages of health and decay, are added.
Economic : E. P. Felt, " Scale Insects of Importance, and List of the
Species in New York State" (1901, Bull. N. Y. State Mus., ix.
pp. 289-377 ; 15 plates (7 coloured) ).
An account, with beautifully executed illustrations, of the principal
Coccidae of New York State, prepared in the detailed and careful
manner usual with these Bulletins.
C. Darwin. — The issue (by John Murray, 432 pp., crown 8vo) of a
shilhng edition of the ' Origin of Species,' is a noteworthy event in the
history of natural science ; the printing is clear and good, and the
volume is a marvel of cheapness. The same firm has issued a 2s. 6d.
edition of the 'Descent of Man,' in which so much entomological
information occurs.
G. W. K.
THE ENTOMOLOGIST
Vol. XXXV.] MAY, 1902. [No. 468.
A LIST OF TORTRICES TAKEN IN SOUTH ESSEX
BETWEEN 1885 AND 1901.
By a. Thurnall.
Having recently left Stratford, after residing there more
than twenty-six years, I have drawn up the following list, with
a few notes, in the hope that it may prove useful to the small
number of collectors who are interested in the Micro-Lepidoptera
of Essex. During the sixteen or seventeen years which were
devoted (as far as my very limited time would allow) to collecting,
I have taken in South Essex — principally in the south-western
portion of the county — about two hundred and ten species ; if I
had had more time to spare it is probable that a few more
species might have been added to this list. I have included
some half-dozen which have been taken in past years by the
late Mr. Machin and others, and which in all probability only
want looking for to be taken again. I will at some future time
make out a list, with notes, of the Pyralididae, Pterophoridge,
and Crambidae (including the Phycitidae), which have been met
with by me during the same period and in the same district.
In conclusion, if any beginner in the above groups should require
assistance in naming captures, I should be most happy to help
him, and also to impart what little knowledge I may have ac-
quired as regards habits and food-plants of these most interesting
little insects.
Tortrix podana (Scop.). — Generally abundant ; the beautiful velvety
var. fusca (St.) is not rare in both sexes ; I bred a number some years
ago from larvte feeding on elder at Stratford. A var. of the female
occasionally occurs in colour between the type and this variety.
T. cratacjana, Hb. — Decidedly rare ; in fact I did not meet with it
until last season (July, 1900), when a single specimen, a worn female,
was beaten from an oak on the borders of Monkwood, Loughton.
Mr. Machin used to take it in the same district years ago.
ENTOM. — MAY, 1902. L
130 THE ENTOMOLOGIST.
T. xylosteanu, L. — Very common, except, of course, on the salt
marshes. The pale yellowish var. obliquana, St., not very uncommon.
I once bred a large number of the type and a few of the var. from
larvae in rolled-up leaves of elm near Brentwood.
T. sorhiana, Hb. — Not very common, and rather local; I used to
beat it from oaks near Brentwood, and have occasionally bred huge
females from larvae feeding on the same trees. Also taken at Wan-
stead, Loughton, Ongar Park Woods, &c.
T. rosnna, Haw. — Generally common throughout, the larva feeding
on very many plants. I bred a good many from larvae feeding on
dwarf sallow (Salix repens var. ascendens) some years ago, and, curiously
enough, everyone, without exception, came out female.
T. diversana, Hb. — Locally abundant, Wanstead, Brentwood, War-
ley, Eomford, &c. Both beaten and bred from birch and elm. Some
collectors, I believe, consider that the larvae feeding on birch produce
a different insect from those found upon elm, but after breeding a
fairly large number I fail to see any distinction.
2\ cinnamomeana, Tr. — Much more local than the last ; a very few
specimens beaten at long intervals from beech in Monkwood, and
more commonly beaten from larch at Warley ; also bred from the
latter locality.
T. heparana, Schiff. — Very common throughout ; may often be
beaten abundantly from hedges towards evening. Seems little given
to variation. I have never met with any wide departure from the type.
T. ribeana, Hb. — Perhaps the commonest species in the genus.
The two named vars. cerasana, Hb., Sbnd grossularimia, St., also com-
mon, the latter especially so.
2\ corylana, Fb. — Much less common than the last two species,
and the latest of the genus to appear in the imago state. Generally
to be obtained by beating oaks, especially the isolated trees. Loughton,
Warley, Ongar, &c. This species does not appear to vary much ; the
only striking var. I ever met with was a small very dark specimen
(Aug. 28th, 1891), almost as dark as heparana.
T. unifaseiana, Dup. — Very common everywhere, often a complete
nuisance when working the hedges in the evening. I once bred about
thirty from one of those "bird's-nest"-like formations on a hornbeam,
very much to my surprise, expecting, of course, to breed Pyralis glau-
cinalis, which has been bred from similar formations on birch twigs.
The "nest" was taken early in April, and kept in a hat box till the
imagos emerged ; what they found to live upon has always been a
mystery to me.
T, costana, Fb. — Very common, more especially in damp meadows;
the var. latiorana, Wilk., not uncommon in the salt marshes, and
strictly confined to them ; more often found in the larva state. I
have bred it (the variety) from larvae feeding on Aster tripolium and
Statice limonium. Thames Haven, Benfleet, and beyond Shoeburyness.
T. vihurnana, Fb. — Local, and, as far as my experience goes,
confined to the saltings, where the larva is commonly met with on
such plants as Aster tripolium, folded leaves of Statice limonium, and
spun-together tops of Artemisia maritima. The males always of the
dull leaden type, the females reddish and more strongly marked ; in
some cases the fascia is very plain, in others only faintly shown.
TORTRICES TAKEN IN SOUTH ESSEX. 131
Under the name " viburnana " I fancy it will be some day proved that
two species are mixed together in this country.
T. paUecma, Hb. — A single specimen taken in a boggy place near
Upminster, July, 1889. Not met with by me elsewhere in the county.
T. viridana, L. — Only too common (and destructive) in oak woods
throughout the county ; dozens sometimes coming down at nearly
every blow from the beating stick. I have never been fortunate
enough to meet with the pretty var. suttneriana in Essex.
T. ministrana L. — Pretty generally distributed, and frequently com-
mon ; to be beaten from birch shrubs and flying over the same at
early dusk at the beginning of June. I have never bred this species.
T.forstemna, Fb. — Larva common on ivy, and sometimes honey-
suckle. The imago may often be beaten freely from the former at the
beginning of July. Some of the females run very large. Does not
appear to vary much except in the size of the spots.
Dichelia (jrotiana, Fb. — Common where it occurs, but seems to be
a decidedly local species. I have found it on two or three occasions
freely by beating a mixed growth of whitethorn and bramble on
Wanstead Flats. Other localities are Upminster, Warley, and Fair-
mead Bottom, Chingford.
Leptogramma scahrana, Fb. — Used to occur a few years ago at
Leyton, close to the spot now covered by the Town Hall buildings, where
1 used to beat it rarely from an elm hedge. Not met with elsewhere
by me.
Peronea sponsana, Fb. — Very common in Eppiug Forest amongst
beech and hornbeam, upon which the larva feeds. What is usually
regarded as the type is very rare there ; with one or two exceptions
all of the many dozens I have examined belong to the very plain
variety lividana, as described by Wilkinson.
P. schalleriana, L. — Not very common, but distributed widely. I
have more often beaten it from blackthorn than anything else. The
pretty var. latifasciana, Haw. (if, indeed, it is a variety, and not a
distinct species), has occurred, but I have not met with it myself.
P. comparana, Hb. — By many entomologists considered merely a
variety of the above, is not uncommon in many localities, but not, I
think, quite so common as the previous species. I have bred it from
a species of willow and also from blackthorn.
P. variefjana, Schiff. — May be beaten in numbers from almost
every hawthorn hedge in the district. All the named varieties occur,
except albana, which I believe is more often found in the north of
England. The almost black var. cirrana is the least common.
P. cristana, Fb. — Still to be found in limited numbers in Epping
Forest, but in nothing like the numbers which were taken by the
collectors of forty or fifty years ago in the neighbouring Hainault
Forest, long since destroyed. I have not taken it anywhere but in
the forest, where it may be beaten from hawthorn.
P. hasiiana, L. — Not by any means common ; a few larvae have
been found near Upminster, Barking, and (formerly) Hainault Forest.
P. umbrana, Hb. — Mr. Machin and others used to get it very
sparingly in Epping Forest, but I have spent many hours in many
seasons searching in vain for it.
l2
132 THE ENTOMOLOGIST.
P.ferrugana, Tr. — Common as this little species is in many places,
it certainly cannot be called so in South Essex ; indeed, I was
collecting several seasons before I met with it at all ! I have since
found the larva sparingly on birch at Loughton, Warley, and Ingate-
stone. I have bred from them vars. tripunctata, rufana, Hb., and
gnomana, Haw.
P. aspersana, Hb. — Decidedly local, but found in several places,
of which I may mention Loughton, Upminster, and Woodford Bridge.
In addition to its two usual food-plants, SpircBci fiUpendula and
Poteriuni sanguisorba, I have found the larvffi on Potentilla anserina
and P. tormeyitilla.
Rhacoclia caudana, Hb. — Well distributed, but never very common,
perhaps more common in the Brentwood district ; I have beaten the
pretty variety ochracea, St., from poplar at Warley, and the type
generally from sallow and alder.
Term contaminana, Hb. — Often in hundreds, and in every variety
in hedgerows and whitethorn bushes ; some of the forms are very
bright and pretty. I have bred it from larvae feeding on flowers as
well as leaves of whitethorn.
Bictyoptenjx Iceflingiana, L, — Very common together with the vars.
plumbana, Hb., and ectypana on oak trunks, and may be beaten freely
from the boughs of the same wherever I have collected in the county.
D. holmiana, L. — Not very common ; may be beaten early in
August from hedges, especially those which contain a good quantity
of brambles, on which the larva feeds.
D. bergmanniana, L. — Very common everywhere amongst wild
and, to a lesser extent, cultivated roses ; the larva in folded leaves of
the same.
D. forskaleana, L. — Common everywhere amongst sycamore and
maple, on which the larva feeds. May often be beaten out in large
numbers from these two trees.
Argyrotoxa conwayana, St. — Generally common, together with the
var. subaurantiana, amongst privet, on which the larva is said to feed,
but I have never bred it.
A. audouinana, Dup. — Local and rare. I have beaten out from
oak (usually) a very few specimens at Loughton about the third week
in June. Not met with elsewhere.
Ptycholoma leacheana, L. — In great abundance among oak, flying
swiftly round the branches in the early evening. The pupa very com-
mon in the crevices of the oak bark, spun up in a white web.
Ditula hartmanniana, L. — Local, and by no means abundant where
it does occur. By the River Lea in one or two places, at rest on
young willow trunks. Much more abundant formerly, before so many
of the willows on the banks of the river were destroyed.
D. semifasciana, Haw. — Another local species. I have found the
larv« on sallow bushes near Warley, and beaten the imago from the
same. Not met with elsewhere.
Pent/dna corticana, Hb. — Rather local, but not uncommon amongst
its food-plant, birch. May be often found at rest on the trunks, but
requires rather a sharp eye to detect it, owing to its colours matching
the colour of the trunk. Brentwood, Warley, Ingatestone, Ongar,
Wanstead Park, &c.
TORTRICES TAKEN IN SOUTH ESSEX. 133
P. hehdatana, Haw. — Found in the same localities and in the same
way as the last, but much later; in fact, I have this year taken a
worn specimen in September.
P. caprcBcma, Hb. — Local and scarce. I have beaten it from Salix
caprea once or twice at Warley and near Upminster.
P. prcBlongana, Gn. — Another local and scarce species, occasionally
beaten out of birch bushes at Warley and Ingatestone at the end of May.
P. pruniana, Hb. — Very common throughout amongst blackthorn.
I once beat out a curious creamy variety exactly corresponding to the
var. nubiferana of cynosbatella. This was at Box Hill, however.
P. ochroleucana, Hb. — Not scarce in hedges where plenty of its
food-plant, wild rose, grows. I have occasionally taken it at light.
P. cynosbatella, D. L. — Very common throughout ; larva polypha-
gous. Dock (!), whitethorn, blackthorn, apple, cherry, are some of
its food-plants.
P. dimidiana, Tr. — The late Mr. Machin assured me that he once
took a specimen at Loughton, but I fancy that, accurate as he was,
there must have been some mistake, as its food-plant most certainly
does not grow there.
P. fjentiana, Hb. — Common in the larva state wherever the teasel
grows, seldom seen (unless bred) in the imago state ; the finest
specimens I ever bred were from teasel heads gathered in the winter
of 1890 on Canvey Island.
P. sellana, Hb. — Local, and from its dull colours and quickness of
wing is often missed. I have taken a very few at Stanford-le-Hope,
Thames Haven, Leigh, and Upminster.
P. carbonana, Dbl. — A single specimen captured by a friend in a
boggy place near Upminster is the only record I have. The food-
plant, Stachys palastris, is not uncommon on the spot. The allied
species fidigana, Hub., I have not met with.
P. niyncostana, Haw. — Fairly common wherever its food-plant,
8. sylvatica, grows. Larvae may be found in the early spring in the
dead stems.
Antithesia salicella, L. — Fairly common wherever willows are to be
found ; at rest usually on the trunks and sometimes on the leaves.
Hedya ocellana, Fb. — Very common, and in great variety throughout
amongst whitethorn, on which the larva feeds in May.
H. lariciana, Zell. — Not rare in the Brentwood district on larch,
on which tree the larva and pupa may be found. I have not taken it
elsewhere in South Essex.
H. pauperana, Frr. — I may just mention this species, which has
been taken rarely in North Essex, but so far not in the southern
portion, I believe. I took a beautiful series in April last in this
county \^Surrey).
H. aceriana, Dup. — A little local, but common in many places
among Populus nigra and other species of poplar ; usually at rest on
the trunks or any neighbouring fence.
H. dealbana, Frol. — Very common wherever I have collected
amongst poplar, oak, whitethorn, &c. The melanic var. alnetana not
uncommon.
H. neglectana, Dup. — So often mixed up with the two preceding
species by beginners, is locally abundant on willow trunks along the
134 THK RNTOMOLOGI8T.
Lea valley ; I have also found it commonly in Wanstead Park and by
the river at Chelmsford.
H. senillana, Dap. — A single specimen beaten from SalLv caprea
between Loughton and Epping is the only one I have taken in the
county. My series in the cabinet I took in Kent.
Sjdkmota incarnatana, Hb., I have never met with, but the late Mr.
Machin used to take it rarely in Fairmead Bottom, Chingford, amongst
wild rose, and he also bred one specimen. This forest form is very
large and brightly coloured.
S. triinaculana, Haw. — Common everywhere amongst hedgerows ;
the larva feeds in early summer in spun-together tips of whitethorn.
S. roscBcolana, Dbl. — Not rare, but often overlooked from its re-
semblance to the above. May be beaten from its food-plant, wild
rose, and I have occasionally bred it from garden rose. Loughton,
Chingford, Woodford, Upminster, may be mentioned as localities for
this species.
8. robovdiia, Tr. — Very often too common amongst cultivated roses,
clearing out the unexpanded flower bud, and is equally common
amongst the wild species.
P. tripunctana, Fb. — Equally common amongst wild roses in nearly
every place where I have collected.
Aspis xidmanniana, L. — Amongst its food-plant, bramble, the larva
may be collected freely, making a conspicuous bunch of the leaves by
spinning them together and pupating therein.
Sideria achatana, Fb. — Fairly distributed amongst whitethorn ; the
larva, which in appearance and habits resembles RhodopJuca snavella,
spins two or three dead leaves to a twig of the food-plant, coming out
at dusk to feed. Loughton (commonly), near Upminster, Benfleet, &c.
Sericoris bifasciaiia, Haw. — Used to occur freely on a Scotch fir
tree at Wanstead, but I have not seen it for several seasons ; the larva
was found feeding amongst the flowers early in June.
S. littoralis Curt. — Common amongst thrift in the salt marshes.
Wakering, Thames Haven, Benfleet, &c.
S. obscisana, D. L. — Very local, near Tilbury, amongst its food-
plant, Carduns arvensis.
S. cespitana, Hb. — I have only met with this usually common
species on a rough, dry piece of waste ground near Upminster.
8. rivulana, Scop. — The late Mr. Machin told me that he used to
take this species freely on one part of Wanstead Flats some forty years
ago ; it certainly does not occur there now, in fact, I have not seen a
specimen in Essex.
8. urticans, Hb., and lacimana, Dup. — Both, of course, very abun-
dant everywhere ; the latter species is, I should say, about the
commonest British Tortrix. I have taken rarely, on the railway
bank near Harold Wood station, a beautiful reddish var. of the first
species, but have not seen it for some years now.
" Mascotte," Whitehall Eoad, Thorton Heath :
October, 1901.
(To be continued.)
135
DESCRIPTIONS OF TWO NEW SPECIES OF THE GENUS
PLANEMA FROM THE UGANDA PROTECTORATE.
By Emily Mary Sharpe.
Planema arenaria, sp. n.
Allied to P. consanguinea, Auriv., but distinguished from that
species by the sandy buff ground-colour of both wings.
Primaries. Central area sandy buff, enclosed by a dark brown
irregular band from the costa to just above the submedian nervure,
this dark band having a second transverse band of sandy buff on the
outer edge ; the apical area and hind margin greyish brown ; a faint
brownish shading visible on the costal margin and in the discoidal
cell. Secondaries. Ground colour sandy buff, relieved by nervular and
internervular streaks of brown, from the hind margin to the discoidal
cell ; a border of greyish brown visible on the upper half of the hind
margin, where it graduates down towards the inner margin ; a cluster
of black spots at the base of the wing. Underside. Similar to that of
P. consanguinea. Expanse, 1*5 in.
The female does not differ from the male, with the exception that
the ground colour is paler, as well as the brown markings mentioned
above. Expanse, 1-7 in.
Hah. Entebbe, August (F. J. Jackson coll.).
Planema Dorothea, sp. n.
Allied to P. gea, Fabr., and P. esebria, Hewits., but differs in
having the apical band on the primaries much lighter in colour
towards the costa. The hind marginal border on the secondaries
is only indicated by a patch of brown on the apical area.
Primaries. Ground colour dark brown, relieved by a broad band of
orange-buff on the apical area, but becoming almost white towards the
costal margin ; a similar patch on the inner margin also fades into
white on the basal side ; a small orange-buff streak is visible between
the first and second median nervules. Secondaries. Ground colour
orange-buff, a lighter tint occurring near the base ; the usual broad
hind marginal border only represented by a patch of dark brown on
the apical area ; the nervules with strongly indicated internervular
streaks of dark brown. Underside. Closely allied to that of P. esebria ;
the black marking in and beyond the cell on the primaries more heavily
indicated, the orange-buff markings showing more white than on the
upper surface. Secondaries with the hind marginal border entirely
absent ; otherwise the spots and markings not differing from those of
the allied species. Expanse, 1-5 in.
The female of this species differs from the male above described
in having the spots and markings white, instead of orange-buff.
Expanse, 1-7 in.
Another specimen agrees with the male, but has the apical band
on the primaries white, as well as the minute streak situated between
the first and second median nervules. Expanse, 1-4 in.
Hah. Entebbe, October {Capt. H. B. Rattray).
136 THE ENTOMOLOGIST.
MISCELLANEA RHYNCHOTALIA.— No. 3.
By G. W. Kirkaldy, F.E.S.
Fam. Eeduviid^.
*Tapeini;s fuscipennis (Stal).
Head and prouotum luteo-fulvous ; base of elytra, legs, scutellum
(except the rufo-flavous point), conuexivum above and below, flavesceut.
Abdomen above pale brownish, apically flavescent. Sterna and abdo-
men below sordid dilute brownish red, more or less obscure, apico-
laterally flavescent. Eyes and elytra black. Antennae obscure fus-
cous. Head between the eyes a little wider than an eye. Posterior
lobe of pronotum somewhat deeply longitudinally impressed, the im-
pression closely and coarsely punctured. Second segment of antennae
five times as long as first, three-fifths longer than third.
3- . Seventh segment beneath (Verhoeff's nomenclature) very
deeply ovally emarginate.
? . Sixth segment obtuse-angularly emarginate beneath, medianly
truncate apically : seventh angularly emarginate, somewhat obsoletely
carinate medio-longitudinally. Long. 17-18 mill.
Hah. Assam : Chenapungi, Khasia Hills (coll. m. ex coll.
Dom. Malcolm Burr). Stal described this from "Patria iguota."
tEHYNOcoRis NiTiDULus (Fabr.) var. strophades, nov.
Differs from the type by the apically broadly luteous inter-
mediate and posterior femora. The eyes are black, the anterior
coxae luteous. The abdomen above and below (except connexi-
vum) more brownish.
Hah. Kongo (coll. m.).
I possess also an example of R. nitidulus, given to me by my
friend Mr. Malcolm Burr, in which the left anterior tibia is
shining black, the right anterior tibia dilute crimson. The
locality is unknown.
Further notes on Vol. I. of Lethierry and Severin's Cata-
logue:—
P. 181. — Rhynchocoris hamatus (Fabr.) is the type of the
genus (= humeralis, Thunb.). " Characteres generici e Rh.
hamata descripti" (Westwood).
P. 3. — Brachyplatys, Boisd. 1835 = Plataspis, Westw. 1837
= Platijcephala, Laporte, 1832.
P. 2. — LiBYASPis, n. n. = Plataspis, Leth. and Sev. (type,
coccinelloicles, Lap.).
Plataspis, Westw., is only a replacement of the preoccupied
Platijcephala, Lap., type metallica ; unless metallica can be sup-
posed to differ generically from vanikorensis, Plataspis should be
regarded as a synonym of Brachyplatys.
-'• —Sminthus, Leth. and Sev. Cat. Hemipt. iii. p. 113.
f = Beduvitis, Qtk\=:Harpactor, Leth. and Sev.
MISCELLANEA RHYNCHOTALIA. 137
P. 25. — Callidea, Am. Serv. typ., is a synonym of Calliphara,
Guer., not of Chrysocoris, Hahn.
P. 46, — Irochrotus, Am. Serv. =A7xtocoris, L. and S., the
latter being proposed as a "classical emendation" of Ursocoris,
which is identical with Odontoscelis.
P. 88.— DiNiDOR, Latr., 1829, Lap. 1832 ; type, maculatus =
Empicoris, Lath, and Sev.
P. 235. — DicTYOCORis, M.?iy v. = Dinidor, Leth, and Sev.
Vol. II.
P. 30. — Metapodiessa, n. n. subgen. for Metapodius, Stal.
Metapodius is properly homotypical with Acanthocephala, Laporte.
P. 86. — CocHRus, Stal. =^ Discogaster, Leth. and Sev.
P. 86— DiscoGASTER, Burm. (1835, Herr.-Schaff. 1840) =
Coryzoplatiis, Spin. Type, rhomhoideus, Btirm.
P. 191. — Orthoea, Dallas = Pamera, Leth. and Sev.
P. 194. — Ptochiomera, Say, 1832. type, nodosus=Plociomera,
Leth. and Sev.
Vol. III.
P. 93. — Ptilocnemus, Y^est.=Ptilocerus, Gva,y = Maotys, Am.
Serv. Type, /itscMs, Gray.
P. 93. — Ptilognemidia, n. n.=: Ptilocnemus, Am. Serv. Type,
lemur, Westw.
Fam. GERRiDiE.
Eotrechus, gen. nov.
Facies of Gerris, Fabr., but distinguished by each tarsus being
terminated by two strong curved apical, aroliated claws. Tibiae cylin-
drical, not tapering.
E. kalidasa, sp. nov.
Dark blackish brown, tinged with fulvous, anterior lobe of pro-
notum with broad testaceous longitudinal stripe, posterior lobe* more
or less rufescent. Elytra with fulvous costa and nervures. Legs and
antennae fulvous, femora paler beneath, blackish at apex. Lateral
margins of anterior lobe of pronotum widely testaceous. Head beneath
fusco-luteous, centrally black. Pleura black. Venter, including am-
bulacra, fusco-luteous. Rostrum reaching to middle of mesonotum.
Abdomen canaliculate beneath ; seventh abdominal segment not pro-
duced spinosely or even angulate laterally.
^ . Seventh segment beneath apically roundly emarginate.
? . Seventh segment beneath apically truncate. Long. 10-5 mill.,
lat. 1-8 miU.
Hah. Carin Cheba, 900-1000 m. L. Fea, 1889 (Mus. Genoa).
Gerris hesione, sp. n.
Distinguished from the other American species of Limnogonus
by much smaller size and proportionately greater width.
Black, base of head medianly, a round spot near anterior margin
of pronotum medianly, lateral margins of pronotum, ferruginous ; an-
138 THE BNTOMOIiOGIST.
tennje, intermediate and posterior legs ferruginous, more or less fumate,
anterior femora blackish, basally pallid. Elytra olivaceous, fumate,
nervures blackish. Beneath covered with silvery grey pubescence.
Head (with eyes) two-fifths wider than long, pronotum roundly angu-
late posteriorly.
$ . Anterior tibiae curved. Long, (to apex abd.), 5^ mill.
America : Florida ; Darien (collns. Montandon and Kirkaldy).
Germs euphrosyne, sp. n.
Belongs to typical subgenus.
Head and pronotum dark ferruginous ; a broad central longitudinal
stripe and a sublateral stripe on vertex, a narrow median longitudinal
stripe and a sublateral stripe (greatly widened inwardly on anterior
lobe) on pronotum, blackish, lateral margins of pronotum pale yel-
lowish. Elytra ferruginous-fumate, nervures blackish. Femora pale
fulvous, black at apex, longitudinally banded with same colour ; tibiae
and tarsi blackish. Sterna black, a sublateral undulate stripe yellowish.
Venter fawn-colour, spotted laterally with black, covered (except later-
ally) with silver-grey pubescence. Above covered with golden yellow
pubescence. Long. 9 mill.
Australia : Victoria, Alexandra (collns. Montandon and
Kirkaldy).
THE CLASSIFICATION OF GEACILAKIA AND ALLIED
GENEKA.
By T. A. Chapman, M.D., F.E.S.
(Continued from p. 88.)
I DO not propose to go into detail as to the habits of these
larvEe ; that would be to write a life-history of each species,
since, though there are some small groups of Gracilaria and
Lithocolletis in which one life-history might be written for all
the species, altering for each little more than the habitat and
food-plant, it is more widely the case that each species has
special habits of its own — in its form of mine, in its life out of
the mine, in its formation of a cocoon, and so on. There are,
nevertheless, things that may be glanced at, as they are probably
important as regards classification within the group.
The group being by its pupal characters a high one amongst
the Incompletae, there is no doubt that it had amongst its not
very remote ancestors a form something like Buccidatrix in
living at first as a leaf-miner, afterwards as an external larva.
Bucculatrix may have been derived from the same ancestor,
retaining a more primitive pupa, but advancing in having a larva
in its later stages living externally and exposed. The primitive
Gracilarian must have had a mining larva in its early stages ;
an external but leaf-rolling larva in the later. It must then
CLASSIFICATION OF GRACILAKIA AND ALLIED GENERA. 139
have been a Gracilaria, except for the want of the special Graci-
larian trophi. On obtaining these, in its first stage, it became a
Gracilarian. On passing this speciaHzecl larval condition on to
the second instar also, it became a Gracilaria or Ornix.
I have examined a number of species of Gracilarianae {Graci-
laria and Ornix), and find they all have two stages with
Gracilarian trophi ; and the same is the case with the two or
three species of Ornix I have been able to examine.
Mr. Chambers only observed one Gracilarian stage in this
group, but there are unquestionably two.
Even in the first instars the habits differ in different sections.
Gracilaria syringella, for instance, with some half-dozen eggs
laid in a row, has the same number of larvEe marching forward
abreast for some distance before they form a blotch. Gracilaria
stvederella and Ornix avellanella make a narrow thread-like mine,
which they lace to and fro into the pattern of a small square
gridiron before throwing it into one square blotch, which they
leave for a leaf-rolling, or perhaps I ought to say, cone-making
existence.
In the genus Coriscium, which has always been associated
with Gracilaria, I am familiar with hrongniardelhim and cuculi-
'pennellum, but on sulphurellum I made no observations. It is
described as cone-making, and is therefore congeneric with
cuculipennellum.
Cuculiyennellum is a true Gracilaria in its early stages,
having two Gracilarian instars, and afterwards inhabiting cones.
Its mode of pupation is very special, as it makes a cone such as
it makes for feeding in ; inside this it slings its cocoon like a
hammock, a structure very similar to, but more robust than, that
of Lyonetia clerckella, and it cuts out a little circular exit-hole in
the wall of the cone precisely opposite the end of the cocoon.
Brongniardellum has a very different history : the larva
makes a very large mine on the upper surface of an oak-leaf,
and there are often two or three larvse in a mine, but this is
always the result of the coalescence of as many different mines,
that happened to be in one leaf. It never leaves this mine until
it does so to pupate, and so far does not differ from such a larva
as that of Gracilaria omissella. It does differ, however, in a very
fundamental point, viz. it has three instars of Gracilarian form.
In this it differs from all the other Gracilarias {sensu stricto),
and is allied to the Lithocolletid division, to which it ought to be
transferred.
Though never leaving the mine until it does so to pupate, it
differs from such Gracilarias as omissella that do the same, in a
respect that again unites it to Lithocolletis and separates it from
Gracilaria. In feeding in its Gracilarian stages, omissella makes
a very small mine like other Gracilarias, and afterwards, when
armed with ordinary trophi, it mines in ordinary fashion beyond
140 THE ENTOMOLOGIST.
the original Gracilarian mine. BrongniardeUum, on the contrary,
makes a very large Gracilarian mine, and in its later stages
feeds entirely on the parenchyma so exposed, never in any way
extending the mine, a habit which is exactly that of Lithoculletis.
In separating these two species generically, the name Coriscium
I fancy adheres to cuculipennelliLm. For hrongniardellum we
have the name Acrocercops, provided by Wallengren, whose
diagnosis is founded entirely on imaginal characters.
In the European LithocoUetis we have a very homogeneous
group ; all of which have three Gracilarian instars, and all
pupate in the mine. Amongst even these there is great variety
of habit, both as to the mine itself, the way in which the larva
contracts the thin epidermal cover, and in the pupating habits.
LithocoUetis typically separates merely the cuticle when in its
Gracilarian stage, and thereafter eats the parenchyma so exposed,
meantime contracting the cuticular roof by the silk spun on it.
There are, however, some, and possibly a good many, varia-
tions and complications of this habit, of which I may refer to
one or two.
LithocoUetis stettinensis mines in alder leaves. It is stated to
mine on the upper side, but in one respect it might be more
correctly described as mining on the lower. It possesses three
instars with fiat Gracilarian head, and during these it mines not
immediately below the cuticle, but at a lower level ; rather, how-
ever, above the middle of the leaf, and leaving the ribs of the
leaf in the lower half. When, however, in the fourth instar,
with ordinary head, &c., it commences to eat; it attacks, not the
thick lower layer, but the thin layer of green parenchyma that
is attached to the upper cuticle, first eating in a longitudinal
line, and as it clears off the parenchyma, spinning silk on the
denuded upper cuticle.
The habit of corylifoUeUa is perhaps in some degree inter-
mediate between this and the ordinary, habit. CorylifoUeUa, as
its first effort, enters a similar layer of the leaf to that in which
stettinensis mines ; but apparently, whilst still in the first skin,
leaves this position and mines beneath the upper cuticle, and
continues to work in both these mines, one above the other, for
some time, a valvular slit in the veil of intermediate parenchyma
affording access from the one mine to the other. It, however,
leaves the deeper mine of comparatively small size, and extends
the subcuticular one to large dimensions. When it assumes an
ordinary head it eats the lower parenchyma, there being in fact
no parenchyma attached to the upper cuticle. The round piece
of intermediate tissue is separated from its attachment to the
floor of the mine, and, dried up to a very flimsy scale, is attached
to the cuticle forming the roof of the mine, and is covered over,
with it, with the silk that contracts and pulls together the roof
of the mine.
CLASSIFICATION OF GRACILARIA AND ALLIED GENERA. 141
Chambers's observations, to which I have already called
your attention, show that in America there are two other forms
within the genus which certainly deserve, and have possibly
received since Chambers wrote, generic recognition.
Our English form he calls the cylindrical form. It has three
Gracilarian instars, and does most of its feeding as a larva of
normal form in the fourth and following instars.
What he calls the flat form has five Gracilarian instars, and
does all its feeding in these ; in the two following it is only pre-
paring for pupation. Why it should have an idle instar between
the last feeding and the cocoon spinning instar, Mr. Chambers
does not tell us, and there is something still to be learnt here.
A third section, consisting of only one species (ornatella =
ostensackenella) , agrees with the last group in everything except
that it is the only species in the genus that leaves the mine for
pupation.
I would suggest, if other names have not already been given
to these two sections, that the flat group be called Cameraria,
after Chambers, with type guttifinitella ; and as regards osten-
sackenella, Fitch, I would place it provisionally in Leucanthiza,
since the larval habits are identical. If imaginal characters
forbid this, it will require a new generic name.
We finally reach the Phyllocnistinse, in which we have the
highest elaboration of the Gracilarian specialization, in so far
that there are three Gracilarian instars, but no ordinary larval
form afterwards. In the fourth instar the larval mouth-parts
are reduced to a spinneret only as a functional organ ; there are
no functional jaws, either Gracilarian or normal.
Probably the Cameraria group of Lithocolletines are as far
advanced, having no instar in which the larva feeds with ordinary
jaws, and may be regarded as even more specialized in having
five instead of three Gracilarian instars ; but this, I think, has
really an opposite bearing, as five or six is a normal number of
moults, and a reduction to three is a very decided specialization.
In any case, however, I have no personal acquaintance with
these American forms, and cannot go very far in theorizing
about them.
The pupae (Pupse Incompletse) of the lower Neo-Lepidoptera
are characterized by having the 7th abdominal segment in the
male free, though fixed in the female, and by the pupa leaving
the puparium for the emergence of the imago. In the lowest sur-
viving forms we have, the antennae, wings, legs, &c., are but slightly
held together, and equally slightly to the abdominal segments, and
these appear to be free up to even the first; so that in Nepticulae
and Cochlidids the first six abdominal segments are all free.
As we advance to higher forms movement is lost in the anterior
segment, and, as each segment loses freedom of movement, it
tends to become also soldered to the appendages lying in front
142 THE ENTOMOLOGIST.
of it. In the lowest Lepidoptera Aculeata (Adelida^, as Incurvaria
and Crinopteryx, we find only the 1st abdominal segment so fixed.
In the higher Lepidoptera Aculeata, in Tischeria, and some
others, the first two abdominal segments are fixed. Then we
come to the great mass of species with Pupte Incompletae, in
which the first three abdominal segments are fixed. These
include the true Tinese, Cossidse, /Egeriadse, all the Tortrices and
their allies, &c., as well as the Pterophorina, which are otherwise
specialized. This seems to have been the structure of pupa that
was most successful as a Pupa Incompleta — at any rate, it is the
most popular. We then come to a Pupa Incompleta with the
first four abdominal segments fixed. This is the pupa of the
Gracilariadae .
At this point in the evolution most lines of advance seem to
have ceased to remain as Pupae Incompletes, and to have become
Pupse Oblectte, i.e. they ceased to emerge from their puparia,
and they acquired fixity in the 7th segment in the male, and
became of the type of Pupa Obtecta that ranges throughout all
the Macro-Lepidoptera, the Pyrales, Gelechids, Depressariads,
Yponomeutids, Q^cophorids, &c.
A Pupa Incompleta, with only two free segments (5 and 6,
female ; 5, 6, 7, male), seems to have been an unsatisfactory
organism, and only obtained a permanent existence in the group
we are considering — the Gracilariad^.
It seems to me extremely probable that amongst the many
exotic families of Micros, of which I am entirely ignorant, there
is one or more with this pupal structure, attained quite in-
dependently of the Gracilariads ; since it is a form, so to speak,
quite in the highway of ordinary evolution in the Lepidoptera.
Up to the present, however, I have not met with such a form.
The process of emerging from the puparium must be less
easily performed with only two movable segments, and the ten-
dency must have been very strong to go right forwards at once
into the obtect condition.
The pupal condition of the Gracilariadse is as definite in
separating them from all other groups as is the larval one. And,
of course, each of these is much more important, taken with the
other, than it would be by itself. The larval specialization is so
remarkable and unique, that by itself it may be taken as fairly
sufiicient to define the group, when we consider that there is no
strong point — no point at all, in fact — per contra. The pupal
condition is of very nearly the same weight in associating the
species within the group, and delimiting them from others.
Either by itself is adequate for this purpose ; the two, taken
together, are of course not simply twice as potent, but at least
four times as potent.
(To be continued.)
143
NOTES AND OBSEKVATIONS.
The Emergence of Anther^a from the Cocoon. — In reference to
Mr. Dodd's note on this subject (ante, p. 16), I should like to say that
in 'Australian Lepidoptera,' a work published in part by Scott and
concluded by the Australian Museum, reference is made to the hooks
with which the moth makes its exit in the following words : — " It was
at this time our attention — being directed to the care of the numerous
specimens in our possession emerging from the cocoons- — was naturally
attracted by the peculiar and loud noise produced by the imago in that
operation for freeing itself, which led to a more careful observation,
and to the discovery that the sound thus created was caused by two
powerful hooked appendages of a horny substance placed one on each
side, immediately at the junction of the base of the anterior wing to
the thorax while in the act of tearing and destroying the strong
fibrous texture of the nest, previously, however, moistened by a
solvent fluid, until a rude and irregular aperture was made. During
this action the insect maintained a slow rotatory motion until the
hooks were plainly visible to us, appearing and disappearing alter-
nately, and quickly and irresistibly calling to mind the sound produced
by the gnawmg of that domestic torment, the rat." He concludes by
remarking that he found all the AiithercBa were provided with similar
hooks; and he also found them in two foreign species of Saturnid^e —
i. e. Tropma luna and Telea poh/phemus. I myself have bred out several
A. astrophela lately, but, unfortunately, have missed them when
emerging. Vol. i. of Mr. A. W. Scott's work was published in 1864 ;
vol. ii. in 1890-1893. — Henry H. Burton Bradley ; 60, Margaret
Street, Sydney, March 18th, 1902.
Insecta of Surrey. — In the first volume of the ' Victoria History
of Surrey' over a hundred pages are devoted to the Insecta, and pro-
bably never before has so full a list been got together for any county :
perhaps there is no other county for which, with our present know-
ledge, one equally ample could be prepared. In some cases we are
given lists only of the species known, in other cases we have such lists
with localities, while of a few orders— t;. g. the Orthoptera, Neuroptera,
Lepidoptera, and Homoptera — the lists are presented in narrative
form, and these last we prefer. Those who have worked up a local
list of any kind know how difficult it is to make it complete ; but
there is evidence that the work before us has in general been well
done, and this record of Surrey insects may be looked upon as fairly
complete, as far as our present knowledge permits. Everyone is of
course aware that many additions must be made as time goes on, but
that fact will not prevent the present list being of very great use to
entomologists who reside or occasionally collect in Surrey, as well as
to all who are interested in the distribution of species.
144 THPJ KNTOMOLOGIST.
CAPTURES AND FIELD REPORTS.
AspHALiA DiLUTA IN Chester DISTRICT. — With reference to the
statement in Mr. Arkle's " Notes from the Chester District " {ante,
p. 117) that Asphalia diluta is new to the district, I may mention that
I took the species in Delamere Forest, on Aug. 19th, 1893. — Geo. 0.
Day; Parr's Bank House, Knutsford, April 14th, 1902.
Early Appearance of Euchelia jacob^^. — I am sending with
this a specimen of, I beheve, E. jacobacB. My wife found it creeping
over the garden path, on the 9th inst. Apparently it had only just
emerged, the wings being undeveloped. Last year I saw a moth on
the wing which I believed to be E. jacohmcB, and with that exception
this is the first specimen I have seen in this neighbourhood — S. J.
Beeston ; Shrubbery Hill, Cookley, Kidderminster, April 14th, 1902.
[The moth received from our correspondent is certainly an example
of E. jacohcea. It was alive when it reached us, but the hind wings
were still undeveloped. — Ed.]
LARViE OF Cossus LiGNiPERDA AT Vauxhall. — One moming towards
the end of September last (the 25th, I fancy), I was surprised by the
discovery of five or six full-grown larvffi of C. ligniperda in Vauxhall
Park, South Lambeth. They were marching in a business-like
manner along one of the gravelled paths, at regular intervals of a couple
of yards or so, objects of great interest to the passers-by, who seemed
to regard them as a new kind of centipede, and therefore as fair game.
Two had already fallen victims. I managed to rescue the remainder
and to place them in a position of safety. I also examined the trees in
the vicinity as well as the attentions of the park-keeper would permit,
but could tind none that seemed to have harboured them. I am aware
that the larva shows great restlessness when about to pupate, but this
seemed very much like a migration in force. Possibly they had been
disturbed by pruning operations. — J. B. Tetley ; 5, Wilkinson Street,
Albert Square, S.W.
Butterflies in Mid-Surrey, Easter, 1902. — Hybernated speci-
mens of Gonepteri/x rhamni were numerous on Easter Monday in
the neighbourliood of Cranleigh, Surrey. I saw at least a dozen
during a walk of two or three miles from that town. They were all
males with one exception. Specimens of Vanessa urticce, V. io, and
F. pohjchloros were also noticed. — J. B. Tetley; 5, Wilkinson Street,
Albert Square, S.W.
March Notes from Kent, 1902, — Very little collecting was done
during the first part of March, but a good series of Hybernia leuco-
phcearia was taken, principally from Bexley, including a fair sprinkling
of the banded black and white form, and one or two females. Ayiiso-
pteryx (Bscularia (males) was fairly common from the 9th, but only one
Phigalia pedaria (pilosaria) was seen, and that a small male. I have
never yet found this insect in any numbers about here, except in the
larval state, and then almost invariably stung. For the first time for
four years Easter was spent at home instead of in the New Forest.
On the morning of March 29th we started to walk to Paul's Cray, but
CAPTUEES AND FIELD KEPORTS. 145
the rain came down so hard and persistently that we were forced to
beat a retreat. After lunch, however, we were off again, and consider-
ing the wretched weather, were much pleased with our takings. On
a big lime-tree at Chislehurst we found a fine male Amphidasys pro-
dromaria, and a few inches below it Asphalia Jiavkornis. We then
proceeded to St. Paul's Cray Common, where we examined the birch-
trunks, and were rewarded by a grand pair of A. flavicornis in cop.,
and three Brephos parthenias. This is the first time I have found the
latter at rest. They were found on the small brown birches, in the
forks of two branches, with the wings pressed tightly against them.
One or two Xylocampa lithorhiza, Anisopteryx cescularia, a,nd Diurnea fayella
were also noticed. The same locality was visited in the afternoon of
the next day, which was so miserably cold and dull that a single Hy-
bernia maryinaria {progemmaria), and a few Xylocampa lithorhiza and
D. fayella were the only insects noticed. The Bank Holiday (March
31st), however, turned out a grand day, and St. Paul's Cray was again
attacked. From 2 o'clock till 3.30, Brephos parthenias was flying in
great numbers, but was, as usual, by no means easy to catch. Three
of us succeeded in netting sixteen specimens in all, of which fifteen
were males, mostly in good condition. A male Gonepteryx rhamni
was tempted out by the sunshine, as were also three or four Vanessa
pulychloros, which seems to turn up in most unexpected places.
Tmniocampa pulverulenta (cruda), Anisopteryx ascularia, and Diurnea
fayella were also noticed. We heard of another Amphidasys prodro-
maria taken that morning in Pett's Wood. With no niglit-work, and
taking the weather into consideration, I think we should not have done
any better in the New Forest. At any rate, the few hours' collecting
compare very favourably with our three Easters there. — F. M. B. Carr ;
46, Handen Road, Lee, S.E., April 6th, 1902.
South Devon Micro-Lepidoptera. — At the time I wrote my notes
on South Devon coast Lepidoptera I had put on one side several
micros from there I was doubtful about. These have recently been
determined for me by Mr. C. G. Barrett as Gelechia semidecandrella,
(not uncommon at sugar), G. mulinella, and Dicroramphaflavidorsana.
The last mentioned was taken at Starcross. As at least one of these
has, I believe, not previously been recorded for Devonshire, it may
be as well to place them on record. — Geo. T. Porritt ; Crosland Hall,
Huddersfield, April 4th, 1902.
Lepidoptera in Ross-shire in 1901. — The following is a list of a
few Lepidoptera that I took last year in a mountainous part of Ross-
shire, about the head waters of the river Carron. The Carron flows
out at Bonar Bridge, on the east coast. My first visit there was for a
few days about July 19th. The weather was excessively hot, and most
of the insects were in poor condition as a result of a long spell of hot
weather : — Pieris napi. Aryynnis aglaia, not uncommon ; only one
was taken, and this at a high altitude, about 1500 ft. It is a male
specimen, and decidedly dark. Canonympha typhon (davas), a few every-
where about the hills, except on very high ground ; nearly all were in
poor condition ; some of the females, however, were fresh out, and very
pale in colour. Xylophasia riirea and the var. (?) combusta. Miana
ENTOM. MAY, 1902. M
146 THE KNTOMOLOGI8T.
fasciuncula, common at sugar ; and different to the southern forms.
Noctua augur. N. rubi, large in size. Emmelesia ericetata. E. albu-
lata. Eubolia mensuraria. Gnophos obfuscata, only one. Larentia
didymata. L. ccesiata. L. jyectinitaria. MelantJiia ocellata. Anaitis
plagiata. Cidaiia nissata, a female from which ova were obtained.
The larvffi, to my surprise, hybernated when quite small, and have
now (beginning of April) started feeding again. I was previously
viuder the impression that this species wintered in the pupal state,
while C. iiniaanata does so in the egg state. Ooremia munitata, several
females were taken and these deposited eggs. The species was found
from 1000 ft. in the valley to nearly 3000 ft. on the tops. From these
eggs one imago resulted in the autumn, but the rest of the larvfe
hybernated when about half grown, and they have not yet (beginning
of April) made their appearance this spring, so I fear they are dead.
Scapula (dpinalis was very common on the tops wherever the right sort
of ground occurred.
On my second visit to the same place, in September, I noticed the
larvfe of Lasiocampa calluna; were common in places. These larvae,
which were about 1^ in. long, were fond of sunning themselves on old
bleached stalks of burnt heather. I brought away a good many, and
they have successfully hybernated in an airy cage out of doors, and are
now (beginning of April) changing their skins and beginning to feed
again. Celana hawortJiii, including one female found at rest on the
heather. Cliaraas r/raminis. Tapinostola fulva, common. T/iera
juniperata, two specimens at rest on a juniper-bush, and the- empty
pupa-skin attached among the needles of the juniper. The juniper-
bushes in this district grew quite prone along the ground and were
scarcely noticeable, very unlike their erect habit in the South of
England. Ciduria miata, one example on Sept. 29th. Phibalapteryx
lapidata, three specimens on Sept. 11th. These were all that I saw,
although I spent some time on succeeding days at the same place
trying to find more. These three specimens were found about a
grassy and rushy spot in a sheltered glen, at about 1250 ft. elevation.
W. M. Christy ; Watergate, Emsworth, Hants.
Dragonflies in the Norfolk Broads. — Mr, H, M. Edelsten has
forwarded a notice of some dragonflies taken in June last. They were
a pair of Libellula fulva (June 19th), the male with adult colouring; a
pair of Orthetrum ccerulescens, and another of L. depressa (June 20tli),
the male in each case adult in colour ; several pairs of 0. cancellatum
(June 19th), but all the males of this species were immature. They
were all flying in a quiet corner near a big reed-bed. In the after-
noon he had been watching the female L. fulva hawking over a
little bog-hole, when a male appeared and they copulated, and flew so
close to him that he was able to net them both. 0. cmrulescens was
also taken in cop. 0. cancellatum was quite plentiful.
Records of some of the scarcer dragonflies are becoming plentiful,
and the fear that several of them were disappearing from our midst
seems to be quite unfounded. Will JEschna isosceles be given a better
status during the season that is just commencing ? It should be
looked for in the broads and fens in June. — W. J. Lucas ; Kingston-
on-Thames.
CAPTURES AND FIELD REPORTS. 147
Odonata of Paris. — The following species of Odonata were ob-
served by me in the suburbs and environs of Paris, in the months of
June and July, 1901 : —
Libellula quairimacidata. — One specimen, Forest of Fontainebleau
(captured). Others seen.
L. depressa. — Two specimens, males, Forest of Fontainebleau
(captured). Others, all males, seen by one of the artificial lakes, Bois
de Boulogne.
L.fulva. — One male, Chantilly. This handsome species is entirely
new to my collection, and I had never seen it alive before. Like
L. depressa and Oithetriun ccendescens, the male is of a lavender blue,
the female of a tawny brown, Its abdomen is larger but somewhat
narrower than is the case with L. depressa, and both longer and broader
than that of 0. ccBrulescens. It is by no means an easy species to
secure. I went after one subsequently which alighted on the gravel
sweep surrounding an artificial lake at St. Cloud, but failed to catch
it, I also missed two (also males) that were flying about pools left by
the rain in the lucerne field at Courbevoie. It is also possible that I
saw it in the Bois de Boulogne.
Cordulia miea. — One specimen. Forest of Fontainebleau. I ima-
gined that this was quite new to my collection, but on my return home
I found I had a second specimen from Basingstoke Canal, near Byfleet,
a year or two since. I had mistaken it at the time for an yEschna.
jEschna ccBrulea. — Not in my collection. If I am not greatly
mistaken, I saw this species flying hither and thither over the lake in
the Bois de Boulogne. The shape of its abdomen precluded the idea
of its being a Libellula, and on the other hand it was not large enough
to be Anax imperator.
Calopteryx splendens. — Two or three males seen, and one female
captured by the canal, Forest of Fontainebleau. One male afterwards
seen at Courbevoie.
Si/inpetrum striolatum. — One in the Pare Maison Lafitte.
S. flaveolum. — One specimen captured, Forest of Fontainebleau. I
fancy it had not long emerged from pupa.
Lestes harbara. — Two specimens captured, Forest of Fontainebleau.
Agrionidse : — Forest of Fontainebleau and Bois de Boulogne. There
are in all probability one or more of the common British species,
Ischnura elegans, Agrion pidchellum, A, puella, and Enallagma cyathi-
gerum. — F. A. Walker ; Dun Mallard, Cricklewood.
[Is Dr. Walker quite certain that he is not taking some other
species for C. cenea — there seems so little resemblance between that
species and an JEschna ? One would hardly expect also to meet with
such a northern insect as JEschna ceerulea in the Bois de Boulogne ;
might it not rather have been Brachytron pratense, or an early /Eschna
mixta ? Personally, too, I should hesitate to call Agrion pukliellum a
common British species, though possibly it is generally plentiful where
found at all ; but the known localities do not appear to be very
numerous in Britain. — W. J. L.]
148 THE ENTOMOLOGIST.
SOCIETIES.
Entomological Society of London. — March l%th, 1902. — Dr. F.
DuCane Godman, D.C.L., P.R.S., Vice-President, in the chair. —
Mr. Benaiah W. Adkin, of Brandon House, Morden Hill, Lewisham;
Mr. E. D. Bostock, of Texall Lodi^e, Stafford; Mr. Hubert Edelstein,
of the Elms, Forty Hill, Enfield, Middlesex; Capt. Frederick W.
Hutton, F.R.S., of the Canterbury Museum, Christchurcli, New Zea-
land ; Mr. Frederick William Lambart Sladen, of Ripple Court,
Ringwould, Dover ; and Mr. Gerard Orby Sloper, of Westrop House,
Highworth, Wiltshire, were elected Fellows of the Society. — Mr. W. J.
Kaye exhibited a number of insects from British Guiana, many of
them taken by himself, illustrative of Miillerian mimicry. Dr. DuCane
Godman remarked that in these regions many different forms of the
same butterfly would often occur within a radius of fifty miles, showing
a wide range of variation. — Professor E. B. Poulton, F.R.S., exhibited
cocoons of Malacosoma vcmtria, collected by Mr. Hamm in 1900, spun
upon black currant and apple trees in his garden at Oxford. All of
them had been attacked by birds through the leaf, this being the
thinnest part of the cocoon, and the pupa thus more easily abstracted.
With regard to the resting habit of Hyhemia leucophearia, he said that
he had observed that this moth usually rested in a horizontal position.
Dr. Lougstaffe said that all the specimens he had observed on green
stems affected a similar position, and that he had only found one on a
birch tree. Mr. M. Jacoby said that he never found the species on
oak at all, but on palings, also in the same position, which facts
Professor Poulton said tended to show that the protective instinct of
the species was retained in such localities. — Mr, G. T, Porritt exhibited
two bred black Larentia multistrigaria from Huddersfield, and said that
the dark form was rapidly increasing in Yorkshire. Of those already
emerged and reared from the same brood, three were normal and two
dark. — Dr. Frederick A. Dixey read a paper, illustrated by lantern
slides, entitled :—" Notes on some cases of Seasonal Dimorphism in
Butterflies, with an account of Experiments made by Mr. Guy A. K.
Marshall." He said that he had long since formed the opinion that
CaUypsilia crocale, Cram., was specifically identical with C.pomona, Fabr.,
and had suspected that the differences between them might prove to
be seasonal in character. The belief in their specific identity was
held by Piepers and by De Niceville, neither of whom, however,
thought that the dimorphism thus shown had any relation to the
seasons. In the discussion which followed, Colonel Yerbury said that
a temporary rainfall in a dry season in dry places had a marvellous
effect in producing intermediate and wet- season forms. Mr. F. Merri-
field pointed out the difference between experiments upon tropical
and European species. In the tropics there are not any very great
distinctions of seasons and temperature, whereas in temperate climates
the seasons are clearly marked off from one another. Professor E. B.
Poulton expressed his opinion that by breeding species through, Mr.
Marshall had proved that one form gives rise directly to the other ;
the pairing of the two forms being a biological test of very con-
siderable value. Colonel Swinhoe, Dr. Jordan, and Dr. F. DuCane
SOCIETIES. 149
Godman also joined in the discussion. — Professor E. B. Poulton read
a paper on " Mimicry illustrated by the Sanger- Shepherd three-colour
process," supplementary to his paper read at the meeting of the
Society on March 5th. — H. Goss and H. Eowland-Brown, Hon. Sees.
South London Entomological and Natural History Society. —
March ISth, 1902.— Mr. F. Noad Clark, President, in the chair.— Mr.
A. L. Rayward, of Wallington ; Mr. B. Stonell, of Ciapham ; and Mr.
S. P. Harry, of Ciapham, were elected members. — Dr. Chapman
exhibited a number of species which he was placing in the Society's col-
lections, inclixding Erqjithecia consignata, Hyboma strigosn, and Jochemra
alni, the first of which species was now only to be obtained in one very
restricted private locality. — Mr. Kemp, living larvae and perfect insects
of the Coleoptera Endomychus coccineus, Ptilinns pectinicornis, and Pyro-
chroa serraticornis, the two former from Epping Forest, on hornbeam,
and the latter from New Eltham, under moss. — Messrs. Harrison and
Main, specimens of the dark var. niyrofulvata of Macaria liturata, from .
Delamere Forest. — Mr. F. M. B. Carr, a considerable number of
specimens from the New Forest, including, Odonata : Ischnura pmnilio,
female vars. of Pyrrhosoma nyniphula, Ayrion mermiriale, and Gnmphus
vulyatissimiis ; Lepidoptera : a large number of species, among which
were Aventia Jiexnla, Lithosia helveola, bred Cinopltria quadra, Nola
striyula, TriphcBna snbsequa, Heliutkis dipsaceus, Cleora glabraria, bred
C. lichenaria, Selidoseina plumaria, and Hyrla aurorarici ; eggs of the
night-jar; a hornet taken from a hollow tree, Easter. — Mr. Nottle,
examples of Ayrotis tritici and A. agathina, from Keston. — Mr. Barnett,
a living specimen of Nyssia hispidaria, female, from Chingford. — Mr.
F. Noad Clark, two species of tick new to the British list. They were
forwarded to him by Mr. Hewitt, of York, who found them upon
guillemots on the Yorkshire cliffs. They had been identified, after
considerable trouble, as Ixodes limhriatus and I. borealis, both rare and
little known species. He also exhibited the common Ixodes reduvms
for comparison, together with photographs of I. fimbriatus. — Dr.
Chapman, a living bred specimen of Endroviis versicolor and some
pupffi, in the larva-cases, of Thyridopteryx ephemeriformis. — Mr.
Edwards, very fine examples of Ornithoptera lydeus and 0. socrates,
from the Malays, with Parnassiiis imperator, from Thibet. — Mr. Turner,
a long bred series of Macroglossa stellatarum, from larvfe obtained at
Bromley, Kent ; and contributed notes on breeding and habits of the
larvae. — Mr. Lucas, a very large number of lantern-slides to illustrate
his remarks on " Entomological localities." They were chiefly of
well-known spots in the New Forest. — Mr. West, of Streatham, also
showed a few slides taken from several localities near Loudon. —
Hy. J. Turner, Hon. Rep. Sec.
Lancashire and Cheshire Entomological Society. — A well-attended
meeting was held in the Memorial Hall, Manchester, on March 10th,
Mr. Robt. Newstead, A.L.S., F.E.S., in the chair.— Mr. E. Whitley,
of " Clovelly," Sefton Park, Liverpool, and Oxford University, was
elected a member. It was resolved that the next meeting be held in
Liverpool, on April 14th, and that Messrs. F. C. Thompson, F. Birch,
and E. J. B. Sopp be appointed a sub-committee to examine and
150 THE ENTOMOLOGIST.
report on the condition of tiie library of Lhe Society at an early date.
A paper on Organic Evolution, with lime-light views, was communi-
cated by Mr. William Hewett, President of the York and District
Naturalists' Society, who, whilst dealing very ably with the subject in
general, also made special allusion to many points of peculiar interest
to entomologists, more particularly with respect to varieties intheLepido-
ptera. An interesting discussion followed, on the melanism of Amphi-
dasys hetularia var. donbleJaijaria and other moths, in which the chair-
man, Mr. J. Eay Hardy, of Owens College, Dr. J. Cottou, Messrs. F. N.
Pierce, B. H. Crabtree, G. 0. Day, and others took part. On the motion
of Mr. Pierce, seconded by Mr. E. J. B. Sopp, a hearty vote of thanks
was accorded the lecturer for his paper. The fine display of exhibits
included, amongst others, the drawing of an extraordinary abnor-
mality in Prionns californiais, which was double in every limb ; and a
series of cases of Coleoptera by Mr. Piay Hardy ; Triphmia interjccta,
Noctua glareosa, N. hrunnea, &c.,by Mr. R. Newstead, on behalf of Miss
Steele Perkins, of Rhyl; bone variety of Arctia pla ntag inis a.nd var.
hospita, by Mr. Harold Milne ; Orgiiia pudibunda, by Dr. J. Cotton and
Mr. F. C. Thompson ; varieties oi Ahraxai^ grosmlariata, Ephyra, &c., by
Mr. B. H. Crabtree ; two rare Dutch volumes with coloured plates by
Sepp, and Lepidoptera varieties by Mr. G. 0. Day ; varieties of Arctia
caia, by Mr. C. F. Johnson ; Arctia lubricipeda, A. urtica, &c., by Mr.
Herbert Massey ; Dianthcecia conspersa by Mr. F. N. Pierce ; Perth-
shire Coleoptera, and Coelioxgs viandibularis, a hymenopteron new to
the British list, by Mr. F. Birch ; Hemiptera from Bolton, by Mr. Oscar
Whittaker ; Anechura bipunctata, an Armenian earwig, with the
Caucasian variety orientalis, by Mr. E. J. B. Sopp. — E. J. Bukgess
Sopp, Hon. Secretary.
Birmingham Entomological Society. — March llth. — Mr. G. T.
Bethune-Baker, President, in the chair. — Mr. R. C. Bradley exhibited
a few Lepidoptera taken in Wyre Forest, including a pair of Ajnimea
testacea, which had been taken in cop. at 3 p.m. ; Sesia ichneumoni-
forniis, Myelois cribrella [crihrum), FJncJtluris pustulata (hajitlaria), and
Hemithea strigata (tkymiaria). — Mr. J. T. Fountain, a series of Lasio-
ctimpa quercus, including local bred females from young larvfe taken in
the spring and bred same summer ; the specimens running from very light
ones to quite dark ones ; also some males taken " sembhng " at Sutton,
with wide light lines approaching var. callnnce. In answer to questions,
he said that he had also taken full-fed larvae of the same species at
Sutton in the autumn. — Mr. A. D. Imms, Lepisma saccharina, taken
in a kitchen at West Bromwich ; it is one of our fovir British species
of Thysanura. — Mr. C. J. Wainwright, photos of insects and parts of
insects taken by Mr. Mearns, of Aberdeen. — Mr. G. T. Bethune-
Baker, a drawerful of LycaBiiidse of the group Amblypodia, chiefly
the genus Arhopala, and gave an account of the same, explaining his
theories of the origin of the various forms. He believes all were
originally brown, and the more blue there is, the more recent the
species, roughly speaking. — Colbran J. Wainwright, Hon. Sec.
151
RECENT LITERATURE.
Les Odonates dii Continent Australien, par M. Ren6 Martin, in the
' Memoires de la Societe Zoologique de France,' tome xix.
p. 220. Paris: 1901.
In an article extending to twenty-nine pages M. Martin has given
us a concise account of the Australian Dragonflies. Little worked as
this region has so far been, still the number of species at least equals
those known for Europe, and the number is likely to be added to con-
siderably, whereas the tale for Europe is no doubt almost complete.
Just as is the case with the higher animals of Australia, so it is with
the dragonfly fauna — it has characteristics peculiarly its own, and we
are not surprised to find that about a quarter of the known species are
peculiar to that continent ; and this individuality shews up even more
clearly when reference is made to the genera. Several new species
are characterized, and in some cases figures are given which will
assist in the identification of them. W J L
E. P. Felt, " Insects Injurious to Elm Trees." (1902, Fifth Ann. Rep.
Fisheries Comm. New York State, pp. 351-79 ; B coloured
plates and 7 text figs.)
We noticed (Entom. xxxiii. p. 254) Dr. Felt's report on insects
injurious to maple ; the present beautifully prepared memoir deals
with the elm, and discusses and figures in their various stages the
following insects: — GaleruceUa luteola, Sajjeida tridentata, Magdalis
arinicollis and barbita (Coleoptera) ; Euvanessa antiopa, Thridiypteryx
ephemercBformh and Hyphantria cunea (Lepidoptera), and Gossyparia
ulmi (Rhynchota). ' G W K
General : H. Gadeau de Kerville, in an exhaustive account of the
marine and maritime faunas of a part of Normandy, enumerates 117
species of maritime insects viz. one Thysanuron {Anurida vmritima),
4 Orthoptera, 65 Coleoptera, 8 Hymenoptera, 2 Lepidoptera, 21 Rhyn-
chota, and 16 Diptera (including the remarkable Clunio hicolor dis-
covered by the author). The two Lepidoptera are Deilephila eupJiorbice
and Zygcena trifoUi which, with var. orohi and ab. minoides, is discussed
in some detail (" Recherches sur les faunes marine et maritime de
la Normandie; 3^ Voyage," 1901, Bull. Soc. Amis Sci. Nat. Rouen
(for 1900), pp. 194-206). We are indebted to the same autlior for an
extended resume on " Galls and Gall-Insects" (" Les Cecidozoaires et
leurs Cecidies," 1901, Causeries Sci. Soc. Zool. France, i. pp. 281-807;
2 plates and 1 text figure).
The remarkable genus Koenenia, of the Arachnid order Palpigradi
is fully discussed by H. J. Hansen (" On six species of Koenenia, with
remarks on the order Palpigradi," 1902, Entom. Tidskv. (for 1901),
xxii. pp. 193-240, plates 2-4). The same author has monographed
the Myriapod order Pauropoda (" On the genera and species of the
order Pauropoda,'" 1902, Vidensk. medd. naturh. foren Kjoben. (for
1901), pp. 321-424, plates i.-vi.). English students will congratulate
152
THE ENTOMOLOGIST.
themselves that this Danish zoologist has contributed his latest three
or four fine monographic memoirs upon the Arthropoda in their
language.
Pihijnckuta. — T. Pergande works out very fully the interesting and
complex life-histories of HonHnphis hanuonelidis and Hcwicimelistes
spinosns (1901, " The Life-history of Two Species of Plant-Lice,"
U.S. Dep. Agric, Entom., Techn. ser. 9, pp. 1-44; 23 text figs.).
Lt'pidoptera. — H. Gadeau de Kerville discusses tlie copulation of
Lepidoptera (" L'accouplement des Lepidopteres," 1901, Bull. Soc.
Ent. France, pp. 76-81 ; 5 figs.).
Coleoptera. — -The variability of the two-spot ladybird is considered
by C. Schroder (" Die Variabilitat der Adalia bipunctata, L., gleich-
zeitig ein Beitrag zur Descendenz-Theorie "; Illustr. Zeitschr. Entom.
1901, No. 24 ; 1902, Nos. 1 to 5 ; 1 plate and 5 text figs.).
G. W. K.
J. H. CoMSTocK AND Chujiro Kochi, " The Skeleton of the Head of
Insects." 1902. 'American Naturalist,' xxxvi., pp. 13-45;
29 text figs.
The skeleton of the head, particularly in the more generalized
forms, is discussed at some length. The authors consider that the
existing nomenclature is "really of little morphological value; for
but few of the primitive sclerites of the head have remained distinct,
and some of them greatly overshadowed others in their development.
The result is that in some cases a named area includes several
sclerites, while in others only a portion of a sclerite is included." It
is maintained that seven segments exist, with the following sclerites
and appendages. " In each section of the middle column the dotted
line indicates the division between the sternal and lateral elements of
the segment."
SEGMENTS. SCLEEITES. APPENDAGES.
1. Ocular (Protocerebral). Vertex and genae.
Ocular sclerites.
Front.
2. Antennal (Deuterooerebral).Antennal sclerites.
Antennae.
Clypeus proper.
3. 2nd Antennal (Tritocerebral) 2nd antennae of Campo-
Labrum (Mouth). dea et al.
4. Mandibular. Postgenal.
Mandibles.
Antecoxal pieces. Trochantin (of do.).
Pharyngeal sclerites.
5. Superlingual. Superlinguse.
6. Maxillary. Maxillary pleurites.
Maxillffi.
Lingua.
7. Labial. Dorsal cervical sclerites.
Lateral do. do.
Labium.
Ventral do. (Gula).
G. W. K.
Erratum. — Page 16, line 4, for "prolegs " read " forelegs."
THE ENTOMOLOGIST
Vol. XXXV.l JUNE. 1902. [No. 469.
CONTRIBUTION TO THE LIFE-HISTORY OF LIPHYRA
B HAS SO LIS, Westw.
By F. p. Dodd.
Having made many enquiries in Australia with reference to
this remarkable butterfly without receiving any information of
an important nature, it appears to me that httle or nothing is
really known of its life-history. One correspondent stated that
it is *' said to be found in ants' nests in its larval and pupal
stages," but presumably he did not know which species of ant
it was said to fraternise with. Another correspondent informed
me that " his books gave it as a twilight flier, with a query, and
that they suggested that larvae may be carnivorous, feeding on
woolly bugs."
I had already seen a female on a warm sunny day in July,
1900, depositing eggs upon a tree, which was in complete
possession of the wonderfully interesting green tree ant, Q^co-
jjliylla smaragdina, Fab., which exists here in vast numbers in
the coast and mountain scrubs. Upon this tree there were
several large nests of the ants, and the butterfly would rapidly
fly over the top of the tree once or twice, then come underneath
and settle on one of the branches near the trunk ; there were
four spots to which it returned at different times after its flights,
and, upon examination, I found that there were two or three
eggs deposited on each. Judging by the number of flights, I
believe only one egg was laid at each rest. I have since
frequently seen the eggs on other trees in ones, twos, or more ;
but deposits of two, in several different places, is the number
usually to be met with. They are placed on the under side of
branches, or protected side of the trunk. I took several of the
ova, and in twenty-two days the larvae, flat oval creatures,
appeared, but of course refused to eat, and died. I had taken
them upon the chance of their being leaf-eaters, and with the
ants merely for protection, as I had found is the case with
ENTOM. — JUNE, 1902. N
154 THE ENTOMOLOGIST.
several other Lycaenids of ours — Arhopalas and Hypohjccena
jjkorhas. Some weeks later I pulled the habitations of the ants
to pieces, but could find no traces of larvae from the ova left un-
touched, and was unsuccessful with many other nests examined.
Then I made the enquiries alluded to.
During the next few months I examined scores of nests, in
the hope of finding larvae of this, to me, mysterious insect, but
without success, and my efforts relaxed considerably. However,
eventually I stumbled across a larva when searching an ants'
nest for other insects. This specimen was half-grown, the size
and shape being about that of a medium-sized lozenge, with a
rim, as in a coin, bordering it all round, but raised somewhat
along the dorsal surface ; colour a very pale yellowish brown,
seven dark spots on each side near margin, and across the centre
of dorsal surface there were three furrows, reaching nearly to
sides ; these furrows are constant through all the moults — it
must be borne in mind that I have not examined larvae less than
about one-third grown, those obtained from the ova were lost
before I had noticed them particularly— nor do they disappear
even when the larval skin becomes the outer pupal shell. The head,
legs, and claspers are in a groove, the edges of which close down
tightly all round, consequently they are seldom seen, except of
course during progression, when the body is raised a little.
After this discovery, I met with other larvae, generally larger
and of a darker brown, and finally obtained pupae, and bred out
a series of the perfect insect.
I regret my inability to describe the ova, or the extra-
ordinarily shaped larvae and pupae ; but I trust, Mr. Editor, that
you will kindly deal with these, for I send you specimens of
same, with examples of the butterfly as it appears soon after
emergence and when set — the set specimens, male and female,
showing the white fugitive scales on fore wings.* I furnish,
however, the following particulars, which may be considered
deeply interesting : —
Taking several larvae and supplying them with ant grubs of
various sizes, I soon had the satisfaction of observing one in-
dividual approach a half-grown grub, deliberately seize it, and
withdraw it from sight ; but, being impatient, I turned him over
soon after, and he slowly released his hold of the grub ; unfor-
tunately I failed to observe anything of the kind again. Finding
that the caterpillars did not thrive upon ant larvae alone, they
were supplied with small nests containing ants and pupae as
well, but in a week or so they showed signs of sickness. By
changing the ant nests, I kept several other caterpillars for
* We are obliged to our correspondent for the material he has so kindly
furnished, and we are very pleased to add that Dr. Chapman has been good
enough to undertake the examination of it, and will report thereon in these
pages at an early date. — Ed.
LIFE-HISTORY OF LIPHYRA BRASSOLIS 155
nearly two weeks ; they also became sickly, and had to be
returned to nests on the trees. However, they deposited frass,
showing that they had been feeding ; this is small for such bulky
creatures, is grey or greyish white, and is greasy-looking. So,
though I cannot positively declare that they exist upon the ant
larvsB, I am quite satisfied myself that they do. As five or even
six caterpillars may be found in one nest, the quantity of food
required by such large creatures must be considerable, though
they are very slow growing ; but the masses of ant larvae could
be drawn upon without making any great reduction in same. I
cannot discern the mandibles of the caterpillar, and incline to
the belief that when it comes to be thoroughly examined, the
mouth-parts will prove to be of peculiar construction.
As many readers may be sceptical as to this insect subsisting
upon ant larvae, I may mention that at present I have young
caterpillars of a moth (female, 20-25 mm.) feeding upon the
larv^ of another species of ant which lives in the ground. When
given the fresh grubs they soon take a lively interest in them,
and affix themselves thereto, and appear to suck their victims.
None of the grubs are eaten, but they are considerably smaller
and much shrivelled when finished with. The moth is even
more greasy than our butterfly. None of the grubs given to
L. brassolis were eaten, but some had the same shrivelled
appearance as those given to the moth larvae.
Moulting. — When the caterpillars are about to cast their skins,
they spin a webbed footing, nearly their whole length, to which they
affix themselves rather firmly ; but in many instances the ants,
utilising the tveh of their grubs, secure them still more firmly to
their position, the web reaching half-way to, or even up to, the
rim. Whether this ant web is added with friendly intent, or
with a view to fasten down a larva to get rid of him if possible,
is a puzzling matter ; still I have not met with any dead larvae
so fastened. Pup^ are occasionally treated in a similar manner,
without the escape of the butterflies being prevented. The
larger larvae require three to four days after taking up their
moulting position to crawl out of their old skins, which become
a little darker, and finally split downwards under the front edge,
and right and left along the rim. The old skin retains its shape
above, and being relieved of its occupant, regains its former
colour, so that, viewed casually, it is difficult to believe that it
is an empty shell, as it resembles a real larva so closely.
When the larva is about half grown, the spots so plainly
discernible upon young examples become much smaller, but can
always be detected, even upon the pupae. I have only observed
the moulting process in several specimens about one-third grown,
and in a fair number which had attained almost full size.
Change to the puija. — The larval skin is not cast off, but
changes in shape, and becomes a comparatively strong and outer
n2
156 THE ENTOMOLOGIST.
covering. The insect shrinks away from this and becomes de-
tached, so that it can be shaken like an Antherea pupa in its
cocoon, or a nut in the shell. The true pupal skin is very thin
and transparent, and, provided of course the outer shell is
opened, the colour changes of the chrysalis can be observed
plainly. After the larva has taken up its position for the trans-
formation, there is no change for thirty-six hours or so, the first
being a narrowing of the thoracic portion, with an increased
thickness in same. Upon examining the future pupa at this
time underneath, it will be noticed that the shell has closed in
on each side, enveloping the head and legs completely; no
closing in upon the prolegs occurs. For some hours no further
alteration takes place, then the remaining portion of the creature
contracts, accompanied by a considerable rise in the dorsal
surface ; the pupal change, so far as can be ascertained from
outside observance, now being complete. However, without in-
creasing the length of these notes, I think I can safely state from
my experience that it is. For several days after, the shell is
liable to split at the outside edge or rim if care in handling same
is not taken, the whole of the top being liable to split and come
off like a lid, and the chrysalis, being particularly delicate and
pulpy, may be killed.
(To be continued.)
ACID ALIA MARGINEPUNCTATA, ab.
The above figure represents an unusual form of A. margine-
punctata {yromutata). Mr. Lucas has so faithfully delineated the
peculiar marking of this example that it is unnecessary to say
anything beyond stating that the ground colour is grey. The
specimen is one of two, both of the same form, taken in August
last by Mr. J. P. Lawson, of South View, Clevedon, Somersetshire.
They were flying at dusk on a hillside in the neighbourhood.
It may be interesting to add that Mr. Lawson, in reply to an
enquiry respecting the ordinary form, writes: — "From what I
can gather from other people, typical examples of this species
have never been taken at Clevedon, the nearest locality in which
it is found being Weston-super-Mare, which is some little distance
from here."
Richard South.
157
NOTES ON THE GENUS CLUNIO,^' Hal.
By a. D. Imms.
During a short period of work last summer, while occu-
pying the University of Birmingham Table at the Biological
Laboratory, Port Erin, I met with some larvae of a marine
Chironomid, and have subsequently devoted a considerable time
to working up what literature there exists upon the marine
species of the family. The following notes which I have made
upon the genus Clunio may not be perhaps without some value.
Our only British species is in urgent need of further investi-
gation, and probably, if carefully sought for, will not prove so
rare as our present knowledge of it seems to warrant.
The genus was erected by Haliday in 1855 for a single
species, namely Clunio marinus, the males of which he found on
the shores of Kerry. It is characterised by the presence of a
pair of enormous claspers — a feature which distinguishes it at
once from any other Chironomid. In 1856 he recorded stray
individuals of the species from Dublin Bay ; in 1872 some ex-
amples were taken by Dale on the sea-coast at Hastings, From
that time onwards until 1894 no contributions appear to have
been made bo our knowledge of the insect, and Theobald, in his
* As far as I have been able to ascertain, the following is a complete
bibliography of the genus Clunio : —
1855. A. H. Haliday, Nat. Hist. Rev. vol. ii. Proc. p. 54, pi. ii.
1856. lb., vol, iii. Proc. p. 73.
1856. J, R. ScHiNEE. Ver. Zoo. Bot. Ver. vi. p. 216.
1864. Fauna Austriaca, Die Fliegen (Diptera), Wien,
vol, ii, pp, 593-4.
1872. C. W. Dale, New and Rare British Diptera, Ent, Month, Mag,
XX, p, 214,
1892. F. V. Theobald. An Account of British Flies, pp. 195-6, London.
1894. G. H, Carpenter, Clunio marinus, HaHday, — A Marine Chirono-
mid, Ent. Month. Mag, p, 129.
1894. R, Chevrel, Sur un Diptere Marin du genre Clunio, Haliday,
Arch. Zool, Exp, et Gen, pp, 583-98,
1897. H, Gadeau de Kerville. Recherches sur les faunes marine et
maritime de la Normandie, 2e Voyage. Bull. Sec. Rouen,
pp. 366-71.
1898. A. Giard, Sur I'appareil tracheen de Clunio niarmus, Haliday.
Compte-rendu Assoc, franc. (Congres de Saint-Etienne), l^e partie,
p, 299,
1898, J, J. Kieffer, Description d'un Diptere sous-marin recueilh aux
Petifces-Dalles (Seine-Inferieure), Bull, Ent. Soc, Franc, pp, 105-8.
1900. H, Gadeau de Kerville, Description, par M, I'abbe J, J, Kieffer,
d'une nouvelle espece de Diptere marin de la famille des Chiro-
nomides {Chinio bicolor), et renseignements sur cette espece,
decouverte par M. Henri Gadeau de Kerville dans I'anse de Saint-
Martin (cote septentrionale du departement de la Manche) et
trouvee par M, Rene Chevrel a Saint Briac (Ille-et-Vilaine),
Bull. Soc. Rouen, 2 pp.
158
THE ENTOMOLOGIST.
'British Plies,' is unable to supplement the work of Haliday.
Coming to the year 1894, its rediscovery almost simultaneously
by Carpenter (from Killiney Bay, Co. Dublin) and Chevrel (from
the coasts of Calvados ; he calls it Clunio syzygialis) filled some
of the blanks in the life-history of the insect. Both these
authors discovered the eggs, the larva, and the female. The
eggs are narrowly spindle-shaped, and are enclosed, like those
of Chironomus, in a gelatinous green tube. The larva is green,
and possesses no ventral blood-gills ; it lives among Cladophora
and other algae in the rock-pools, and is therefore truly marine.
It is worthy of note that blood-gills are similarly wanting in
Chironomus oceanicus, described* by Packard (Proc. Essex Inst.
1868, pp. 41-46) from Salem Harbour, as well as in the larvae I
have met with at Port Erin, and in some of the fresh-water
species. The female may be fairly described as apterous, for
what remains of the wings is reduced to tiny vestigeal appen-
dages ; she crawls about over the rocks and weed at low water,
and during pairing the male flies about with her held in a
straight line with his own body by means of his strong claspers.
A full account of the habits of both sexes will be found in
Chevrel's paper.* I might mention that in Halirytus amphihius,
discovered by Eaton in Kerguelen Land, the wings are similarly
vestigeal ; although placed in the Tipulida?, S^iaiv considers
that it is probably a Chironomid. The degeneration of the
wings in the female has been described as the result of complete
adaptation to a littoral habitat ; for in so tiny and highly fragile
an insect, if wings were present, the chances of being blown out
to sea would be very great, and an appreciable numerical
deterioration of the species would result from the destruction of
the eggs. The mouth-parts are very rudimentary in both sexes,
a feature which distinguishes the imagines from those of other
Chironomids.
Besides marinus, two other species of Clunio have been de-
scribed, namely, G. adriaticus by Schiner, who states that it is
found on the sea-shore among sea products of all kinds, and that
Fraunenfeld found it amongst colonies of Mytilus minimus ; and
C. hicolor by Kieffer from the French coasts.
Chevrel gives a few observations upon the internal anatomy
of the Clunio larva, and Giard has described its tracheal system.
Nothing is known of the anatomy of the imago.
In conclusion, I wish to state that I submitted this short
article to Mr. G. H. Verrall, and I am indebted to his kindness
in reading it through, and offering a suggestion upon it.
Zoological Laboratory, University of Birmingham.
* An interesting account is also given by Carpenter in ' Knowledge,'
1901, pp. 197-8.
159
THE CLASSIFICATION OF GRACILARIA AND ALLIED
GENERA.
By T. a. Chapman, M.D., F.E.S.
(Concluded from p. 142.)
In viewing the classifications that have been made of the
Gracilariads, we have seen how they have always been placed
close to the Lyonetiads, and usually more or less mixed up
with them ; in accordance, no doubt, with the fact that there
is probably no very profound difference in any important cha-
racter between them in the imago state. The superficial re-
semblance of Leucoptera (Cemiostoma) to Phyllocnistis is very
close indeed.
I am not prepared to advance any larval characters that
suffice to distinguish the Lyonetiadse, but there is a very definite
pupal character that is, I think, both inclusive and exclusive.
This is that the pupa is entirely immobile, and in a special
manner that distinguishes it from other immobile pupse, such as
Perittia, Thyris, &c. It has never passed through an ordinary
obtect stage, in which the wings, &c., usually are attached down
to the fourth abdominal segment only. Here the wings, &c., are
attached for their whole length to the abdominal segments. In
Lyonetia the wings and abdominal segments form one mass that
tapers to a point — a point to which the wings, antennae, and
third legs reach, as well as the abdominal extremity. This mass
is not, however, as solid as it looks. As in Pupse Incompletse,
all the appendages separate from each other, and with rather the
facility one finds in Nepticula than with the difficulty that one
meets with, say, in Tortrix. When the appendages are pushed
aside, one inclines to doubt whether they were really at all
adherent to the abdominal segments, and these again are found
to be quite movable. Still, it is tolerably certain that no move-
ment whatever takes place in the living pupa, hardly even on
dehiscence.
In Leucoptera the appendages do not come so far down, and
the pupa itself is comparatively short and dumpy ; still, it agrees
with Lyonetia in essential structure. We have here, then, a
pupa very different indeed from that of Gracilariads. But is it
after all very far off from them, if its probable evolution is con-
sidered ?
If we confine the name Obtect to those pupae that have reached
that character by the same route as, say. Nocture have, or by
some very similar one, then the Lyonetiads are certainly not
Obtectse. They are a separate modification of the Pupse Incom-
pletas. They are consolidated so far that the segments have lost
mobility, but are still very primitive as regards the soldering
160 THE ENTOMOLOGIST.
together of the different parts, appendages, &c. In this respect
they appear to be lower rather than higher than the Gracilariads.
Gracilaria is a Pupa Incompleta that has reached, as regards
movable segments, the highest point that such a pupa can attain.
Lyonetia has just passed this point, but is otherwise no higher
than Gracilaria, whilst both are, as regards imaginal and other
structures, still rather low amongst Micros above the Tinefe.
Even pupally, as regards general soldering ol appendages, they
are lower than Tortrices, for instance, which in the matter of
movable segments are a stage below them. Further, each in its
own way is different from any other pupa.
Taking all these things into account, it is highly probable that
the pupa of Gracilaria and that of Lyonetia are really not very
far apart. Each has taken one step forward from a similar form,
quite probably a common ancestor ; but they have taken it in a
different manner.
It might be asked if they be possibly so near as this, whether
each form of pupa might not have arisen separately perhaps
several times, and whether Cemiostotna might not possibly be
nearer to Phyllocnistis, and Lyonetia to Coriscium, than Lyonetia
to Cemiostoma, and Phyllocnistis to Coriscium. Apart from the
inherent improbability of this, the larval specializations give it a
complete contradiction.
The lateral pseudopods of the larvffi of Phyllocnistis and of
Cemiostoma, and the curious tail-ending of the pupa of Lyonetia,
and of the larva of Phyllocnistis, show that there is close relation-
ship between the two groups, probably in the facility of develop-
ing such structures rather than in a common inheritance of
them.
Phyllohrostis daphneella is a very interesting species in several
respects to us just here, chiefly in regard to its pupal structure.
This places it outside the Lyonetiadae, but very close indeed to it,
if we accept the explanation of the pupal alliance that possibly
exists between Gracilaria and Lyojietia that I have hazarded,
and, indeed, very strongly enforces the probability of that ex-
planation. At first sight the pupa, though darker in colour, and
looking more solid, is very like that of Cemiostoma. A closer
view, however, shows that it is of a form that I have described as
occurring in Epermenia (Ent. Trans. 1897), at a time when that
was the only one I knew with this structure, viz. with the free
segments as in Gracilaria, but without the habit of leaving the
puparium for emergence. This might very well be a connecting-
link between Lyonetiadae and Gracilaria.
The classifications that have recently been made of these
groups may be taken to be well represented by Meyrick (1895),
Spuler (1898), and Rebel (1901). These seem all to be founded
more or less on characters of neuration, and the variations in the
results are largely due to the personal equation by which each
CLASSIFICATION OF GRACILARIA AND ALLIED GENERA. 161
systematist attributes a little more or a little less value to some
slight variations of nervine arrangement.
We may accept the result so far as showing a strong proba-
bility that the Gracilariad and Lyonetiad families are somewhat
related, and that the genera Opostega and Bucculatrix are more
nearly related to them than perhaps any others of the European
fauna.
Meyriok does not divide them into families, and the series of
genera including Lyonetia and Gracilaria reads continuously.
Interpreting this by his phylogenetic table (p. 708) by placing
gaps in the list of genera, it is a little less unnatural than it
looks ; but when we go a little further, and find the connecting
link between Lithocolletis and Phyllocnistis is the terribly impos-
sible one of Argyresthia, we feel sure that that table has led
Mr. Meyrick into one of the pitfalls such tables open in all
directions, even for the most wary.
Mr. Meyrick, however, discussed all these genera rather fully
in the 'Transactions' of the Sydney Linnean Society in 1881,
with results that are but obscurely shown in his Handbook. He
recognizes, from geographical reasons, that Gracillaria is an
older form than Lithocolletis, and that the two groups are closely
allied from their larvae having the same number of ventral pro-
legs, viz. 6, in their post-Gracilarian stage. He does not, how-
ever, mention the Gracilarian trophi. I disagree with him when
he places Phyllocnistis with Cemiostoma, as he does still, and in
separating Bedellia from Lyonetia, and associating it with other
forms that are outside this group.
It is rather outside this paper, but it may be noted that he
then placed Nepticida high in this group, and in the ' Handbook'
he places it at the top of the group containing our Gracilarians ;
whilst the wing-structure and the pupal development both show
that it is as low as, or rather lower than, the lowest Aclelidce
(Tinete Aculeatae), though on a different line. Apart from these
points of disagreement, and taking into account that his classi-
fication is based almost entirely on imaginal characters, one
admires the grasp he shows of the generic relationships, and how
closely he approaches the true phylogeny. It must be remem-
bered that, in taking my own results to be more correct than his,
I am accepting his facts and conclusions to a great extent, whilst
modifying them by other series of facts ; and that but for the
sound and masterly foundation laid by Meyrick, Chambers,
and Stainton, my own contribution would have been of little
effect.
Spuler and Eebel divide them into families. I am not in
possession of Lord Walsingham's classification of these genera,
beyond what I have been able to gather from a paper in the
'Proceedings' of the Zoological Society for 1897. From this it
appears that he associates together Bedellia, Buccidatrix, and
162 THE ENTOMOLOGIST.
Tischeria. Where he places Phyllocnistis does not appear, but I
rather suspect in Lyonetiadae. Lithocolletis he places under
Gracilarianae, but does not apparently subdivide it in any way.
Gracilaria, however, is more or less subdivided, and several new
genera are given. This arrangement does not quite accord with
Meyrick's, which, however, as concerns the Tineides generally,
he approves.
Meyrick, 1895.
Opostega.
Bucculatrix.
Oinophila.
Lithocolletis.
Or nix.
Coriscium.
Gracilaria.
Leucoptera {Cemiostoma).
Lyonetia.
Phyllocnistis.
Bedellia.
Tischeria.
Ocnerostoma.
Spuler, 1898.
VIII. Gracilarid^b.
Gracilarinas — Gracilaria.
Corisciiiin.
Ornix.
Lithocolletinae —Lithocelletis.
Bedellia.
Bucculatrix.
IX. ffiNOPHILID^.
Oinophila.
X. Cemiostomid^.
Cemiostominae — Cemiostoma.
Phyllocnistinse — Phyllocnistis.
XI. Lyonetidje.
Phyllohrostis.
Lyonetia.
Opostega.
TiNE^ Aculeate.
Tischerinse — Tischeria.
classification of gracilaria and allied genera. 168
Eebel (Staudinger), 1901.
Gracilariid^.
Gracilariinae — Gracilaria .
Corisciiim.
Ornix.
Lithocolletinae — Bedellia.
Lithocolletis.
Palumbinse — Tischeria.
Lyonetiid^.
hyoneiimse— Lyonetia.
Phyllohrostis.
Phyllocnistinse — Phyllocnistis.
Cemiostoma.
Bucculatrix.
Opogona.
Opostega.
Of the various other genera associated with the Gracilariads
and Lyonetiads in the several systems we have been considering,
I may say that my knowledge of the early stages does not enable
me to place Oinophila, Opostega, Ocnerostoma, Palumbina, or
Opogona ; but except Palumbina, if there be such a thing, I doubt
whether any of them are Gracilariads.
Tischeria and Bucculatrix, about which I do know something,
happen also to be those that have been most persistently placed
here. Most certainly neither of them are either Gracilariads or
Lyonetiads.
Spuler has so far recognized this, as regards Tischeria, a.8 to
take it right away, and place it in the Tinese Aculeatae, where
also it is certainly out of place.
The pupa of Tischeria has only two fixed segments, though
the third begins to lose freedom at the abdominal base, and is
therefore at a much earlier stage of evolution than our Graci-
lariads, nor is the larva specialized like them. It is not an
Aculeate, as it has no piercing ovipositor, nor has it spiculated
wing-membrane. So far as my knowledge goes, I incline to
place it alone in a family by itself.
Bucculatrix also wants the peculiar juvenile larval trophi, and
the pupa is only a little in advance of that of Tischeria. It has
the two basal segments fixed, and the third is all but fixed.
I should classify these genera as follows : —
GEACILARIAN COHORT.
I. GRAciLARiADiE. — Larva with " Gracilarian " trophi in first
two or more stages. Pupa Incompleta 1 to 4 abdo-
minal fixed.
164 THE ENTOMOLOGIST.
1. Gracilarianae. — First two larval stages '* Gracilarian."
a. Gracilaria.
b. Coriscium (cundipennellum).
c. Ornix.
2. Lithocolletinse. — First three or more stages " Gracilarian "
6 or 7 larval instars.
a. Lithocolletis (European group).
b. Cmneraria* (type, guttifinitella) .
c. Leucanthiza {ostensackenella, Fitch).
d. Acrocercops (type, hrongniardellum).
3. Phyllocnistinse. — Three Gracilarian stages and 1 modified
normal stage (4 larval instars).
a. Phyllocnistis.
II. Phyllobrostid^— Pupa does not leave puparium, but 5 and
6 free, and 7 in c? (larva normal '?).
1. Phyllobrostinae.
a. Pliyllobrostis.
III. Lyonetiad^. — Pupa immobile, fusion of parts feeble (larva
normal).
1. Leucopterinre. — Pupa with appendages shorter than
abdomen,
a. Leucoptera {Ccmiostoma).
2. Lyonetianffi. — Appendages reach end of pupa, weakly
fused,
a. Lyonetia.
3. Bedelliange. — Appendages to end of pupa, rather firmly
fused.
a. Bedellia.
Somewhere else, and at a lower level, but not together —
Bucculatrix.
Tischeria.
Bedellia is pupally very similar to Lyonetia, but has advanced
to a much greater solidity and fixity of parts, sufficiently possibly
to require that it should be placed in a separate subfamily.
MISCELLANEA RHYNCHOTALIA.— No. 4 (Heteropteba).
By G. W. Kirkaldy, F.E.S.
1. Antilochus coqubbertii (Fabr.). — Kangra Valley, India,
4500 ft. (G. C. Dudgeon).
2. Dysdercus cingulatus (Fabr.). — Red form; Kangra Valley,
as above.
3. D. RUFicoLLis (Linn.). — Cura9ao (coUns. Sceldrayers and
mine).
''''■ "Of or belonging to Chambers,"
MISCELLANEA RHYNCHOTALIA.
165
4. D. suPERSTiTiosus (Fabr.). — South Africa; Transkei (G.
C. Barrett).
5. Nysius raphanus, W. R. Howard. — 1872, Phillips's
* Southern Planter ' (sec. Kiley), and 1872, ' Country Gentle-
man,' Sept. 15th (sec. Eiley), and ' Canad. Entom.' iv. p. 409.
= N. destructor, Pdley, 1873, 'Fifth Missouri Eeport,' p. 113,
fig. 41. . .
Riley admits {I.e. p. Ill) that Howard's description was
published before his own, and that the two names refer to the
same species.
6. Sephina vinula (Stul). — Jamaica (C._ B. Taylor). The
ground colour of the two examples I possess is as red as that of
S. maculata (Dallas) from the same island. _ This species has
not, I believe, been recorded before from Jamaica.
7. MORMIDEA MONTANDONI, Sp. n.
This handsome little species combines the characters of the typical
subgenus and Melanochila, Stal. It is separated from all the other
described species (except M. liujens (Fabr.)) by the deflexed head and
transversely callose-fasciate pronotum. From M. lugena it is dis-
tinguished by the colour of the head and buccul^e, the general pictura-
tion, and by the pronotal fascia being practically entire.
Bronzy black ; tylus, lateral margins of head, anterior and lateral
margins of pronotum, a submedian fascia and the latero-basal margin
of the pronotum, the three sides of the scutellum, two lateral and a
sublateral stripe on corium, clear pale yellow. Connexivum above and
entire ventral surface (including antennae, bucculcB, and legs) dilute
fusco-testaceous. Abdomen beneath with seven obscure, slightly
darker, longitudinal stripes at subequal distances apart. _ Membrane
bronzy fumate. Femora and tibite speckled with black, apical half of
third and the fourth segment of antennae black, first and second more
or less blackish. Head anteriorly somewhat deflexed ; rostrum reach-
ing to posterior coxse, first segment to base of head. Antennas short,
fourth segment about three-fifths longer than the third, which is
slightly longer than the second, which is two-thirds longer than the
first. Head, pronotum, scutehum, and elytra (except the subcallose
or subreflexed pallid parts) strongly impresso-punctate (the outer corial
stripe sometimes somewhat sparingly so). Pronotum a little before
the middle with a callose, entire (or almost entire) transverse fascia.
Pronotum antero-laterally obtusely denticulate, lateral angles acumi-
nately spinose. Scutellum not callosely spotted. Pleura sparsely
punctured. Apical angles of abdominal segments acute, somewhat
prominent. Long. 7i-8i mill., lat. (across pronotal spines) 5|-
5f mill.
Hah. Ecuador, Ambato (collns. A. L. Montandon and mine).
I have great pleasure in naming this well-marked species
after my friend Mr. A. L. Montandon, our chief authority on some
branches of the Cimicidse.
166 THE ENTOMOLOGIST.
Gelastaspis, gen. nov.
Closely allied to Ceratocoris, White, and more especially Libyaspis,
Kirkaldy, but differs from them by the form of the head (at least in
the males).
Roundly convex. The upper surface, the head beneath, and the
laminate parts of the sterna closely but irregularly punctured. Head
horizontal, tylus small but distinct. Eyes small. Ocelli close to base
of head. Buccul® very short, elevated, anteriorly not touching clypeus.
Head (with eyes) narrower than the apical margin of the pronotum ;
antennsB inserted a little nearer to the base of the rostrum than to the
eyes. Head strongly callosely tuberculate between insertion of an-
tennae and intero-basal part of head, and also callosely elevated between
the former and the eyes. Apical margin of pronotum widely and
minutely emarginate, briefly truncate in the middle. Pronotum strongly
elevated posteriorly, sinuately impressed in the middle on the anterior
margin, lateral margins rounded. Prosternum strongly and pro-
foundly depressed between the true sterna and the expanded laminate
parts. Mesosternum laminate laterally. Stink-orifices simple, elon-
gate. Coxse almost contiguous. Spiracles at lateral margins of
abdominal segments, not on connexivum.
^ . Tylus very short, juga meeting in front of the eyes, and pro-
duced somewhat overlappingly, about 3f times (or more) as long as
tylus (to base of head) ; juga not forming a single curve together, the
anterior margin of head being thus angularly emarginate in the
middle. Antennte very short, second segment one-half longer than
the first, which is subequal to the third, fourth one-seventh longer
than third. Distance between an ocellus and the nearest eye about
three times as great as between the ocelli. Fifth abdominal segment
(Verhoeff's nomenclature) beneath apically acutely emarginate, nearly
touching apex of fourth in the middle ; sixth beneath apically rotund-
ately emarginate.
? . Tylus more rounded, and shorter than in the male. From
base of head to apex of tylus, scarcely shorter than the length of the
juga in front of tylus. Eyes sessile. Second segment of antennas
about equal in length to the first. Distance between an ocellus and
the nearest eye about seven-twelfths greater than between the ocelli.
Apical margin of fifth segment of abdomen beneath obtuse-angled
emarginate, sixth rotundately emarginate.
8. G. BRowNi, sp. nov.
Above flavescent or flavo-testaceous, irregularly speckled, blotched,
and marmorate with blackish brown. Beneath black ; the laminate
parts flavescent, variegated as above. Antennte, rostrum, legs, &c.,
pale rufo-testaceous. Abdomen beneath laterally more or less pallid
in wedges. First segment of -rostrum reaching to the middle of the
prosternum, second to middle of mesosternum, third to middle of meta-
sternum, fourth reaching beyond posterior coxge. Long. ^ 13-13J
mill. ; ? 12 mill., lat. 9i mill,,
Hab. British Central Africa, Mlanji, Thornwood Estate
(Henry Brown). On coffee, in company with Antestia lineati-
TORTRICES TAKEN IN SOUTH ESSEX. 167
collis Stal {^^Aegaleus hechuana, Kirk.), Lihyaspis tvahlhergii
(Stal), &c. Of the last named, there is at present only a single
mangled male, without scutellum ; but I think the identification
is correct.
I have great pleasure in naming this species after its dis-
coverer, Mr. Henry Brown. The difference of head-structure in
the sexes will separate the genus from Lihyaspis, the only genus
with which it can be confused. In G. hrowni, the length of the
antennal segments, and of the head, &c., vary slightly ; while
the amount of dark blotching is much less in one male than in
the other.
9. Amorgius cordofanus (Mayr, 1852, larva), {=^ niloticum,
Stal, 1854).— Kangra Valley, 4500 ft. (G. C. Dudgeon). Oblig-
ingly determined as niloticum by Mr. A. L. Montandon.
10. My friend Mr. E. P. van Duzee considers {in litt.) that I
have fallen into error in placing Liburnia as a synonym of
Emholophpora (Entom. 1901, p. 340). On looking again into the
matter, I quite agree with him that Emholophpora, 1853, is not
synonymous with Lihurnia as understood by later authors. The
five species included in Lihurnia by him in 1866 (Hem. Afric. iv.
pp. 179-81), however, belong to at least three genera, and no type
is stated.
A LIST OF TORTEICES TAKEN IN SOUTH ESSEX
BETWEEN 1885 AND 1901.
By a. Thurnall.
(Continued from p. 134.)
Roxana arcuana, L. — This beautiful insect iisually occurs pretty
freely wherever oak and bracken are growing together. I have still
to learn how, where, and when the larva feeds, and upon which of
these two very distantly related plants !
Euchromia purpurana, Haw. — Local, but occurs in several places,
usually preferring rough uncultivated ground ; not often in good con-
dition when captured. Larva on roots of dandelion and other allied
composites in May. Warley, Thames Haven (sea wall), Upminster,
&c. My darkest and largest specimens came from Wicken.
Orthotmnia striana, Schiff. — Generally common in similar localities
to the last ; I have met with it in all the localities where I have col-
lected. Larva feeds in the "crown" of the dandelion and other
composites. The female is not so readily obtained, and is very
much smaller,
0. (?) hranderiana, L. — I have taken this in three localities : Wan-
stead (but not for some years), Ongar Park Woods, and in the
neighbourhood of Colchester amongst aspen.
0. ericetana. — This species surely ought to be found, but I am
obliged to confess that I have never seen a specimen alive either in
Essex or any other county !
168 THE ENTOMOLOGIST.
Eriopselx fractifasciana, Haw. — Rare and local ; two or three speci-
mens were taken by me some years ago in an open space in Epping
Forest, somewhat to my surprise. I have bred it in May from larv®
taken at Box Hill the previous autumn, feeding underneath the radical
leaves of Scahiosa columbaria.
Phtheochroa riujosana, St. — Not uncommon, flying at dusk in early
June along hedgerows, and generally worn. The larva is more com-
monly met with in July and August, feeding in the fruit and shoots
of Bryonia dioica. This insect should be killed at once, as it is usually
very restless when boxed.
Cnephasia musculana, Hb. — ^Common generally ; may be beaten,
usually rather freely, in May from whitethorn and birch shrubs.
Sciaphila nnbilana, Hb. — Often in swarms, the males only, round
whitethorn and blackthorn (upon which the larva feeds in May). A
species which soon gets worn, and is best bred, thereby ensuring a
good set of females, which are not free fliers.
S. cunsjiersana, Dougl. — Local, but occurs in a few localities on the
coast ; I have not met with it inland. Near St. Osyth, near Bright-
lingsea, and about fifteen years ago near Southend, on ground now
covered with buildings, I believe.
S. snbJL'ctana, St. — Swarming almost everywhere ; an old wooden
fence skirting a dry meadow often finds a resting place for hundreds
of this variable little moth.
S. viryaureana, Tr. — Common, but not nearly so much so as the
last species ; although commonly found with it at rest on fences, I
have quite as often beaten it from oaks, &c. ; the shelter afforded by
trees seems to be more acceptable to this insect than to snbjectana.
S. pascaana, Hb.^Distributed, but much more uncommon than
the last species. I have found it on fences in the Lea valley, and
bred it from larvae found at Stanford-le-Hope in spun-together tops of
milfoil. A very curious form of this insect occurs only in the salt
marshes ; pale yellowish, or straw colour, would roughly describe it.
I have bred this from a folded leaf of Aster tripuliuvi.
S. chrysanthcana, Dup. — Not common, but has occurred in many
places. Near Upminster, Harold Wood, Warley, Leyton Marshes,
may be mentioned. I found this larva on two occasions — the first
week in June, 1890, and 1891, at Harold Wood, feeding on the leaves
of Tussilayo farfara, in some cases turning down a lobe of the leaf,
and in others puckering the leaf by partly drawing two portions
together with silk. Of course, I expected some common Pyrale to
appear, possibly luteaUs, and I was greatly surprised when this insect
came out. About eight were bred.
S. dnaana, St. — Local, as, indeed, it seems to be everywhere. I
have only taken it near Brentwood ; a single male at rest on an oak,
but a fair number of larvae taken on what I expect is its only food-
plant — viz. the spun-together flower-heads of the wild hyacinth [Scilla
nutans). Eleven were bred this summer, and thirteen last year (1900).
Some of the females are very fine.
S.{?) hybridana, Rh. — Fairly common; frequently found amongst
elm bushes and blackthorns, on one or both of which I expect the
larva feeds, but many hours have been spent in vain looking for it !
I once bred a single specimen from a pupa spun up in a composite
TORTRICES TAKEN IN SOUTH ESSEX. 169
flower, but I am inclined to think that the larva had merely gone
there to pupate.
S. ictericana, Haw. — Very common throughout, often a nuisance
when collecting at dusk. The larva is polyphagous. Lychnis, Senccio
(three species), and Aster tripolium may be mentioned as common
food-plants.
Capua favillaceana, Hb. — A true wood insect, common in many
places ; Epping Forest, Brentwood and Warley, Ingatestoue, Upmin-
ster, &c. I have never met with the larva, but should imagine oak or
hornbeam to be likely foods.
Bactra lanceolana, Hb. — Common in boggy places throughout, and
in great variety. The larva may be found well on in May, feeding
and afterwards pupating in the stems of Juncus conglomcratus.
B.furfurana, Haw. — Excessively local. I have only met with it
in the marshes bordering the Eiver Lea near Lea Bridge. Early in
June it may be disturbed from its food-plant, Eleocharis palustris, in
the stems of which it feeds and pupates. Its habits in all stages are
exactly similar to lanceolana. I bred this species — for the first time
in England, I believe — in 1894.
Phoxopteryx sicnlana, Hb. — Eare and local. One or two worn
specimens beaten from Rhammis near Brentwood. Mr. Harwood
takes it more freely near Colchester, I believe.
P. tmcana. — Pretty generally amongst ling and birch shrubs.
Loughton, Epping, Warley, and several other heathy places.
P. myrtillana, — Hardly an insect one would expect to find in
South Essex. Nevertheless I took a fine male at Temple Mills, near
Stratford, near the railway sidings (June 22nd, 1890). I fancy it
must have been conveyed from Yorkshire by one of the numerous
goods-trains which run between Doncaster and London on the Great
Eastern Railway.
P. Imulana, Fb. — Not very common, but widely distributed. Double
brooded. I have taken it near Stanford, Harold Wood railway bank,
Loughton (rarely), Upminster, &c.
P. mitterpacheriana, Schiff. — Common generally amongst oak and
beech, in the folded leaves of which trees the larva feeds in the
autumn, pupating therein in the spring. A very beautiful species
when fresh from the pupa.
P. upupana, H. S. — Scarce and local. Near Loughton, Warley,
and near lugatestone, always among birch shrubs, the food-plant of
the larva.
P. lactana, Fb. — Another local species. I have found it not rarely
in woods near Warley and Childerditch, also in Ongar Park Woods
among aspens.
Grapholitha paykulliana, D. L. — Common amongst birch, the larva
feeding in the catkins in the spring.
G. nisella, Clerck. — Fairly common, and very variable ; on aspen
trunks only (I have never found it on sallow). The named vars. all
occur. Wanstead, near Loughton, Ongar, &c.
(To be continued.)
ENTOM. — JUNE, 1902.
170 THE ENTOMOLOGIST.
NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS.
The National Collection of British Lepidoptera. — As this col-
lection in the Natural History Museum at South Kensington is now
being rearranged, revised, and augmented, a convenient opportunity is
afforded for making it what we all wish it to be, that is, thoroughly
representative of the Lepidoptera of the British Islands,
One very important improvement would be the addition, in as much
detail as possible, of the early stages of each species. It is hardly to
be hoped, however, that this desirable end could be attained in any
way approaching completeness without the assistance of the entomo-
logical public. We therefore venture to ask our readers to help the
Museum to effect this useful work by contributing whatever material,
either living or preserved, that they may have to spare. There are
already larvae and pup^e of a few species in the collection, but all the
examples are not good, so that gifts of ova, larv^ and pup^e of any
species would be acceptable. Lists of presentations, with names of
donors, will be pubhshed in this Journal each month.
Hepialus humuli var. thulensis, Newman. — In these days of
priority names, why should not justice be done to the distinguished
first editor of the ' Entomologist ' ? Mr. Newman first named the
Shetland form of H. humuli (Entom. ii. 162), and his name was
accepted by Mr. Crotch in the same vol. p. 176. I often wonder why
Mr. Jenner Weir, in the ' Entomologist,' vol. xiii. p. 250 (plate of
H. humuli vars.), adopted the name hethlandica, Stgr., 1871, in pre-
ference to thulioisis, Newman, 1865. — C. W. Dale ; Glanvilles Wootton.
May 5th, 1902.
[See also Entom. xxvi. 100 ; and Stand. Cat. (3), i. 410.— Ed,]
CAPTURES AND FIELD REPORTS.
New Forest Notes (1902). — The last week in April this year was
spent in the New Forest. We were favoured with wonderfully tine
weather on the whole, but, though fine, a strong east wind prevailed,
which was very bad for collecting. Treacle was tried on two occasions,
but, except for a very few Cerastis vaccinii, and a large army of beetles
and earwigs, nothing was attracted. Blackthorn blossom, of which
there was plenty, was a trifle better, but very little. A few each of
C. vaccinii, Tccniocampa cruda (worn), T. stabilis (worn), and T. gothica
(in fine condition) were observed at the blossom, with single examples
of Trachea piniperda, Xylina socia, Scopelosoma satellitia, Ant idea ba-
diata, A. nigrofasciaria (derivata), and Hyhcrnia marginaria (worn).
Eupithecia abhreviata common. , On the wing the following additions
were made : — Pachnobia rubricosa (one, in good condition), Ligdia
adustata (one), Selenia illunaria (three males), S. tetralunaria (one male,
unfortunately badly damaged), and Anticlea nigrofaaciaria (one).
Day-work was none too good either. Butterflies were in fair
numbers, especially the hybernated species. Gonepteryx rhamni was
much in evidence, both sexes being well represented. Vanessa poly -
chloros, common. V. io, five examples seen, the two specimens netted
CAPTURES AND FIELD REPORTS. 171
being in wonderfully good condition. F. tirticcB, a few. Of the spring
butterflies, Pararge egeria was the commonest, but though so freshly
emerged, a good number had the wings torn. Pieris rapcc occurred
sparingly, as did Cijanirls [LyccBna) argiolus, and Mr. Lucas took
SgrichtJiHS malvcB.
By far the most interesting moth was Boarmia cinctaria, and the
nice series obtained made up for any disappointment in other respects.
It was certainly no easy work to get B. cinctaria, but three visits to
Holmsley rewarded us with about three dozen specimens. Why this
moth refuses to rest on the trees when they grow closely together is
incomprehensible to me, but this certainly seems to be the case, for
most of the examples taken were on the medium-sized stunted Scotch
firs in the most boggy parts of the heath. On one occasion four moths
were found on one tree, and this after more than an hour's searching
without finding one. The darker-coloured moths seem to be the best
protected, the light ones being frequently discernible at a considerable
distance. About three-fourths of the moths taken were males. Some
of the females were kept in chip-boxes, and deposited their eggs
beneath the rough wood of the box, or between the rim of the lid and
the outside of the box. In a natural state one would suppose that the
ova are deposited in the crevices of the bark of the fir-trunks. Has it
been observed whether they are deposited thus or on the food-plant ?
Besides the Holmsley specimens, two males were taken not far from
Denny Lodge, one from a birch trunk.
Two examples of a Tephrosia, which I suppose would be T. ere-
piiscularia, were taken from fir trunks. Ematurga atomaria and Bupalus
piyiiaria were just coming out, and Bapta taminata (bimaculata) and
Panagra petraria were taken singly, whilst a few fine examples oiAnticlea
nigrofasciaria were also obtained. Five species of Eupithecia were
noted. Two nice specimens of the pretty and local E. irriguata were
the best. E. abbreviata was common almost everywhere. Ej. pumilata
was also fairly common, whilst E. coronata and E. nanata were each
singly represented, the former being taken in the ' Rose and Crown '
'bus. Xglina socia was taken from a post. Xglocampa lithoriza was in
fair numbers, but poor condition.
Turning to the larvse, my father worked pretty hard with the
beating- stick, and met with a fair amount of success, the following
being obtained : — Gnophria quadra (two, very small), Nola strigula
(one), N. cueuUatella, Halias bicolorana (two), Bombyx quercm (one),
Porthesia similis, Miselia oxyacantlm (the commonest larva), Catocala
sponsa (one), Triphmna fimbria [I ), Metrocanipa margaritaria, Ellopia
fasciaria (prosapiaria), fhera variata, T. firmata{.^), Oporabia diliitata,
Rumia cratcegata, Scodiona helgiaria [?), Cleora lichenaria (about two
dozen, some nearly full-grown). On the last morning a long search
for the larva of Limenitis sibglla was well rewarded, as we took twenty-
nine between us. The small brown larva was discovered on the
brown stick of the honeysuckle just below the green shoot, generally
rather low down in the bush in sheltered positions. Mr. Lucas found
two on the green leaves, where they are fairly conspicuous, but on the
brown stick they were splendidly protected.
It was rather early for dragonflies, but three female Pyrrhosoma
nymphula were observed, and also a quite freshly emerged Libellula
172 THE ENTOMOLOGIST.
depressa, resting on a grass-stem with the old nymph-case just below it.
The nymphs of this species were in some numbers in the same pond.
A few Coleoptera were taken at odd moments, and Mr. S. W. Kemp
kindly sent me the following list of species obtained : — Pterostichus
striola (F.), Druiuius q^iadrimacnlatus (L.), Deronectes deprcssus (F.),
Staphylmus casareus (Cover.), found under stones and turf, Anatis
ocellata (L.), Coccinella septempunctataijj.), Byrrhus 2}ilula (h.), FiluKjmm
bifasciatnm (F.), Helops stiiatus (Fourc), Scyninus suturalis (Thunb.),
Hylobius abietis (L.), Ehynchites ceneo-irreus (Marsh.), R. pauxillus
(Germ.), Apionmmiatum (Germ.), Balanimts villosus (F.), and Geotrupes
typh(sns (L.).
Cicindela campestris was seen commonly on the heaths, flying and
running in the sunshine. Two species of Hemiptera also sent to
Mr. Kemp were identified by him as Podlsus luridus and Acanthosoma
griseum.—F. M.B. Carr; 46, Handen Road, Lee, S.E., May 6th, 1902.
Sphinx convolvuli in 1901. — In the 'Entomologist' for August,
1901, I recorded that Mr. Pestell, of Elstow, near Bedford, captured
four specimens of S. convolvuli at honeysuckle on June 30th and
July 2nd, 10th, and 11th. Mr. Pestell received from field-labourers
two larvffi of S. convolv^di on August 16th, which pupated on August
22nd ; one on August 28th, which pupated on September 2nd ; two
larvae on September 7th, which pupated on 12th ; one on September
14th, which pupated on the 16th. All these larvfe were found feeding
on the scarlet runner, or french-bean. On October 4th he received a
pupa which was found in a potato patch. These pupae all failed to
emerge, and are now dead. It appears to me to be probable that the
specimens caught at midsummer were hybernated, and that these laid
the eggs which produced the larvffi found in August and September. —
W. GiFFORD Nash ; Bedford.
Sphinx convolvuli on Dartmoor in 1901. — At Yelverton, South
Devon, at an elevation of about 800 feet, on the edge of Dartmoor, I
captured, at tobacco flowers, two specimens of (S'. convolvuli on August
20th, two on 25th, one on 26th, and one on 28th. Many specimens
were seen by others after I left the neighbourhood on August 31st. —
W. GiFFORD Nash ; Bedford.
NoTODONTA CARMELITA IN SouTH OF SCOTLAND. — I was greatly Sur-
prised to find on April 19th last that a female specimen of xV. carmelita
had emerged in one of my breeding pots, which contained pupfe from
larvfB collected in this locality during the last week in July and first
week in August, 1901. The larva; were collected from birch and
black poplar. I knew that I had dictwa, dicttmides, dromedarins, and
ziczac among those larva3, but never suspected that I had carmelita. —
J. C. Haggart ; Galashiels, N.B., May Brd, 1902.
Plusia moneta Larvae at Farnborough (Kent) and Neighbourhood.
— Last season I had the good fortune to capture some imagines of this
species at Bromley Common {ante, Entom. July, 1901). There is a
considerable quantity of its food-plant in the neighbourhood [Aconitum
and Delphinium), so this year I resolved to look for the larva?. A
diligent search (mostly on private ground) resulted in the capture of
a good number, spun up in bunches of terminal leaves, undergoing
SOCIETIES. 173
their last moult. A friend of mine has also found two in his garden
at Tooting, S.W. — A. J. Lawrance ; 65, Malyon Road, Ladywell,
S.E., May 19th, 1902.
Larv^ in Durham. — This year has been one of the most successful
years for larvae I have had. We have taken within a very few miles
of Newcastle-on-Tyne about fifty larvae of Triphana fimbria, one hundred
of Argijnnis eiiphyosijne, eighty of Eupithecia tcnuiata, and one of A.
selene. These figures are rather remarkable, for the local records say
that A. euphnmjne is disappearing from this district, and similarly with
A. selene. We obtained larvae of the two Argynnids mentioned in about
two hours, for we only sought one day. — J. W. Harrison; 1, Craig
Street, Birtley, R.S.O., Durham, May 19th, 1902.
SOCIETIES.
Entomological Society of London. — April IGth, 1902. — The Rev.
Canon Fowler, M.A., D. Sc, F.L.S., President, in the chair. — Mr.
James Roland Charnley, of Howick House, Howick, near Preston,
Lancashire ; and Mr. A. T. Gillanders, of Park Cottage, Alnwick,
were elected Fellows of the Society.— Mr. 0. E. Janson exhibited
specimens of both sexes of Ornithoptera victoria, from Ysabel, Solomon
Islands, recently taken by Mr. Albert Meek ; and remarked on the
variation in the colour and markings in the males. — Mr. H. W.
Shepheard-Walwyn exhibited variations of EucJwlia jacolxBcc taken by
him at Winchester in July, 1889. — Mr. Willoughby Gardner exhibited
Ccelioxys mandibnlaris, Nyl., from the Cheshire coast, a species new to
Britain ; and Osmia xanthomelana, male and female, and Osmia parie-
tina. Curt., male and female, from North Wales. — Mr. A. J. Chitty
exhibited a specimen of Aglais urticcR taken at sallow on March 28th,
having a large portion of the hind wings cut off, so that when folded
they were symmetrical in outline. From their appearance he con-
cluded they had been bitten off by some animal, probably during
hybernation. — Dr. T. A. Chapman called attention to the remarkable
bilateral asymmetry in the male appendages of the Hemarid Sphinx,
Cephonodus hylas, Linn. He said that bilateral asymmetry in insects
was sufBciently rare to make it always notable. In the male apo-
physes of Lepidoptera he had only been able to find records in the
case of the Hesperid genus Thanaos, to which Scudder and Burgess
first called attention — though it seems highly probable that the facts
can hardly have been unobserved in so common a species as C\ hylas.
In hylas the right clasp is larger, rounded, but very imperfectly articu-
lated to the base, so as to be capable of very little movement, other-
wise, and compared with other Hemarid genitalia, one would call this
the normal clasp. The left clasp looks at first as though it had been
the same as the right, but had met with some accident that had
removed a large terminal disc, leaving two lateral cusps. It is shorter
than the right as about three to five, and the arrangement of bristles
and spines is quite different to that on the right, if it is indeed possible
to compare these very different forms. It is much more movable
than the right clasp. The arrangement suggests that it is intended to
174 THE ENTOMOLOGIST.
facilitate a lateral, instead of a medial approach in the capture of the
female. The upper appendage or tegument is also twisted, so as no
doubt to correspond with the obliqueness of the whole appendage, as
most definitely seen in the clasps. Dr. Chapman also exhibited speci-
mens removed from the insect, and also of the several parts, as well
as a rough sketch of the clasps and tegumen. — Mr. C. P. Pickett ex-
hibited Hyhernia leucnplucurid taken during March at Chingford, High-
gate, and Pinchley, including the ordinary mottled, the black and
white banded, and six very deep chocolate-coloured forms, one uni-
colorous. He also showed series of Phir/alia pedaria, Anisoptenjx ascu-
laria, and Nyssia hispidaria, from the North Metropolitan district. —
Mr. H. J. Turner, on behalf of Mr. W. West, of Greenwich, exhibited
specimens, males and females of Stictocoris flaveola, Bohm., a species
new to the British fauna, found amongst long grass in damp places at
Lee, Kidbrook, and Shooter's Hill. He also exhibited several speci-
mens of Typhlocyba candidula, Kir., a species first discovered by Mr.
West at Lewisham and Blackheath on Populm alba, and remarked
that it was interesting to find two quite new species occurring in the
district so well worked by Douglas and others in years past. — Dr. D.
Sharp, F.R.S., communicated a paper by Miss Alice L. Embleton,
B.Sc, entitled " On the Economic Importance of the Parasites of
CoccidfB." — Colonel Charles Swinhoe, M.A., F.L.S., read a paper
entitled " Eastern and Australian Drepanulidfe, EpiplemidtB, Micro-
niidfB, and Geometridfe in the British Museum Collection." Mr.
William F. Kirby, F.L.S., contributed a paper entitled " Additional
Notes on Mr. Distant's Collection of African Locustidre." — H. Rowland-
Brown, Hon. Sec.
South London Entomological and Natural History Society. —
March 21th, 1902.— Mr. F. Noad Clark, President, in the chair.— Mr.
Stanley Edwards exhibited (1) very fine specimens of Ornithoptera,
0. hormanni, 0. naias, and 0. criton, from the Malay Peninsula, and a
male of the rare 0. plateni, from New Guinea; also a large collection of
Hemiptera-Heteroptera from all parts of the world, comprising seven-
teen genera and eighty-five species.
April 10th. — The President in the chair. — Mr. Main exhibited a
twig of hawthorn from the New Forest, having a large batch of ova of
Eriogaster lanestris, and remarked on the curious spiral arrangement
of the eggs. — The Rev. F. P. Perry, a large number of specimens col-
lected during a short residence in South Africa, including a large and
conspicuous ant-lion, several species of cockroach, clusters of Mantis
eggs from the gum-trees, numerous species of Coleoptera — especially
Longicorns — and a very large species of the Hemiptera. He specially
pointed out a large beetle which had powerful stridulatory organs at
the back of the pronotum. — Mr. Moore, some ten species of exotic
Blattodea, including Blahera gigantca. — Mr. Kemp, a macropterous
example of IJydrowctra stagnoritni from Mitcham. — Mr. Hewitt and
Mr. Nottle, long bred series of Nyssia hispidaria and Amphidnsys
strataria, both from Epping Forest parents ; and a number of Phigalia
pedaria from West Wickham. — Mr. Edwards, a collection of Hemiptera-
Heteroptera mainly from South America, and a number of species of
the genus Charaxes, including several fine examples of C. jasius. — Mr.
SOCIETIES. 175
Lucas, specimens of Kriocrania suhpitrpurella, which he stated was now
common at Oxshott on fences. — Mr. Clark, microscopic slides showing
details of structure of Corixa striata, On/i/ia antiqua, &c. — Dr. Chap-
man, specimens of Pueslerstdvimia erxlebella bred from larvfe beaten by
Mr. F. M. B. Carr at Oxshott on birch ; he also gave notes on its
habits and occurrence, and made remarks on the spelling of its specific
name. — Mr. South, a curious banded form of Acidalia marline punctata,
from the hills round Clevedon, and a large number of species of British
and Eastern Asian Lepidoptera, the latter to illustrate his paper en-
titled " Some British species of Lepidoptera and their Geographical
Distribution." — Hy. J. Turner, Hon. Eep. Sec.
Birmingham Entomological Society. — Ajrril 21st. — Mr. G. T.
Bethune-Baker, Vice-President, in the chair.— Mr. E. C. Bradley showed
the following species of Aculeate Hymenoptera from Wyre Forest : —
Pompilus ciiictellus, Agenia Jdrcana, Pseudagejiia punctiun, and Stelis
aterrima, all being new to the district. — Mr. C. J. Wainwright, a small
collection of Diptera made by Dr. T. A. Chapman in Spain last year,
chiefly in the Sierra Albarracin. Amongst the most interesting were
Volucella elegans (originally described from Spain), Physocephala chrysor-
rhcea, Antlirax velutina, Si/stcBchiis leucopliaus, Hulopogon clavipes, Cyrtus
gibbus, and a series of a species of Tachinid of the Plagia group, which had
been bred from Albarracina kurbi, and appears to be quite new and very
distinct. — Mr. W. H. Flint, a long series of Brephos notha, taken in
the Forest of Dean last Easter Tuesday. The species was quite
common, flying chiefly round the aspens, and he noticed that they did
not appear to come to sallow blossom at all as B. parthenias does. —
Mr. Bethune-Baker, a number of LycffinidiB from South Africa, of
unusual colours and patterns for the family. — Mr. W. H. Flint gave an
account of the wiugs of Lepidoptera, their structure, development, &c.
Correction. — The Apamea testacea mentioned in last report {ante,
p. 150) were from Moseley, and not from Wyre Forest as there stated
in error. — Colbran J. Wainwright, Hon. Sec.
Lancashire and Cheshire Entomological Society. — The usual
monthly meeting was held on April 14th, in the Royal Institution. Dr.
J. W. Ellis, F.E.S., occupied the chair. — The following gentlemen
were elected members of the Society : — Mr. Hy. Champ (Manchester),
Mr. Benjamin Jones (Levenshulme), Mr. W. Baeper (Levenshulme),
and Mr. J. T. Wardley (Knotty Ash). Mr. R. Wilding proposed that the
evening meetings be adjourned until October next ; Mr. Webster
seconded, and it was carried. — Mr. Wilding further proposed that a
field meeting be held in the summer, the arrangements to be made by
the secretaries ; Mr. Pierce seconded, and it was carried unanimously.
Mr. F. N. Pierce, F.E.S., read a paper on the British Pulicidte, which
was communicated by Mr. G. C. Biguell, F.E.S., and was well illus-
trated by the micro-lantern. — The following exhibits were examined : —
A small collection of Coccidro, by Mr. R. Newstead ; micro-slides of
Pulicid^e, by Mr. Pierce ; Biston kirtarla, by Mr. W. A. Tyerman ;
Coleoptera from Mossley Hill, by Mr. G. A. Dunlop ; Coleoptera, in-
cluding species new to the district, by Mr. Wilding ; and Cgmatophora
Jiavicornis mounted in the natural position on a branch of the food-
plant [Betula alba), by Mr. Fred. Birch. — Fred. Birch, Joint Hon. Sec.
176 THE ENTOMOLOGIST.
RECENT LITERATUEE.
H. KoLBE, " Garfcenfeinde und Gartenfreunde, die fiir den Gartenbau
schadlicben und niitzlichen Lebewesen." Gartenbau Bibliotek,
Band 34-36 ; pp. 1-320, and 76 text figures. Karl Siegisniund,
Berlin (preface dated June, 1901).
This useful little book may be compared best, perhaps, with Dr.
John B. Smith's ' Economic Entomology ' (1896), The arrangement,
however, is quite different, the present work discussing the pests under
the heading of their food-plants, instead of in systematic order.
After an introduction upon the structure of the insect frame, and
an account of the principal economic orders and families, with analy-
tical tables for their further identification, preventive measures and
remedies are briefly discussed. The more important plants are next
considered, with an account under each of their various pests, viz.
divers fruit-trees, strawberries, vegetables, and ornamental shrubs ; a
considerable amount of otherwise scattered information is here gathered
together. The second part deals with the gardener's friends — beasts,
birds, ichneumon-flies and others.
The author's name is a guarantee of the accuracy of the entomo-
logy, while the illustrations, most of which are from the pencil of
Dr. Riibsaamen, are clear and well-selected. The book is plainly but
substantially "got up," and the printing (which is in the German
character) is wonderfully clear. q -^ j^
A. D. Michael, " British Tyroglyphidfe," vol. i. pp. v and 291 ;
19 partly coloured plates (Ray Society, 1901).
A COMPANION volume to the author's " Oribatidte," and deals with
the Acari of which the " Cheesemites" are the type.
This first volume contains a history of the literature ; criticism on
recent classifications of the Acarina ; followed by detailed accounts of
the anatomy and development, and a systematic account of a portion of
the family. In the forthcoming second volume we are promised the con-
tinuation of the systematic account and a bibliography of the literature.
Although so minute — one thirtieth of an inch being the length of
a very large species — the Tyroglyphidfe are of considerable importance.
The number of known species is very few, some fifty being recognized,
and these mostly very widely distributed ; yet many of them " swarm
in such countless myriads . . . that the mind shrinks from any
attempt to estimate their numbers, even in a small space." They are
enormously destructive to cheese, flour, hay, and druggists' stores ;
sound healthy bulbs as well as rotten ones, and dried fruits, attest their
ravaging powers. Biologically, however, the Tyroglyphidse are spe-
cially remarkable for the possession of a " Hijpopus-sta,ge." The
" Hypo pi " are heteromorphous — comparatively rarely occurring —
nymphs (of both sexes) which are not true parasites, but only attach
themselves to any suitable moving creature for purposes of transit.
This Hypopiis-stsige was for long an enigma, but was elucidated by the
author in 1885, and is now fully discussed in the sixth chapter. We
must not omit mention of the nineteen plates containing 241 beautiful
drawings by the author, of which forty-five are coloured. They are
beyond all praise. G_ w. K.
THE ENTOMOLOGIST
Vol. XXXV.] JULY, 1902. [No. 470.
ADDITIONS TO THE FAUNA OP MEXICO (BEEB AND
COCCID^).
By T. D. a. Cockerell.
Prof. C. H. T. Townsend has this year been exploring parts
of the State of Chihuahua, and has brought to light the following
forms, new to the Mexican fauna.
Apoidea.
Melissodes tristis malvina, n. subsp. — (? . Similar to M.
tristis, but smaller (length about 8j mm.) ; eyes dark brown
(pale greenish or greyish in tristis) ; antennse with the flagellum
dark reddish l)eneath (bright ferruginous in tristis) ; nervures of
wings mostly piceous (ferruginous in tristis) ; pygidial plate
narrower ; otherwise as in tristis. The clypeus, labrum, and
mandibles are black, as in tristis.
Hah. Cerro Chilicote, State of Chihuahua, Mexico, at mouth
of caiion on south side, March 22nd, 1902, at flowers of a species
of Malvaceae, apparently one of the purple species of Sidalcea.
Collected by C. H. T. Townsend.
The following table separates the males of Melissodes in
which the clypeus is black : —
Antennae reaching far beyond thorax ..... 1.
Antennje not reaching beyond thorax ..... 3.
1. Mesothorax with much black hair. (Calif.) . personatella, Ckll.
Mesothorax without black hair ..... 2.
2. Larger, length about 10 mm. (New Mexico) . . tristis, Ckll.
Smaller, length about 8| mm. ; differing also as described
above ........ malvina, Ckll.
3. Antennge scarcely reaching to scutellum ; abdomen with-
out bands. (Texas) intorta, Cr.
Antennae reaching to metathorax ; abdomen banded . 4.
4. Antennae black, mandibles without a yellow spot. (Oaxaca,
Mexico) ........ a^siniilis, Sm.
Flagellum bright ferruginous beneath, mandibles with a
large yellow spot. (Sta. Fe, New Mexico) sijlmralceoi, Ckll.
ENTOM. — JULY, 1902. P
178 THE ENTOMOLOGIST.
Agajwstemon texanus, Cresson. — ? . Bluer than usual. Cerro
Chilicote, April 3rd, on flowers of some species of Compositae
(Townsend). Although this species is now first recorded from
Mexico, its occurrence in the State of Chihuahua could have
been predicted with certainty, as it is very common in the
adjacent parts of the United States.
CocciD^.
Tachardia cornuta, Ckll. — Cerro Chilicote, at mouth of caiion
on south side, March 22nd, on a bushy composite plant called
Salvilla by the Mexicans (Townsend). The specimens are more
irregular than the original types. This makes the sixth lac-
insect from Mexico.
Lecaniodiasjns rufescens (Ckll.). — Cerro del Chile, east base in
Arroyos, on green spiny shrub, March 26th, 1902 (Townsend).
Eidecanium rohinice (Townsend). — Cerro Chilicote, April 10th,
on ash (?) and Rhus (?). Collected by Townsend. This is a
shiny dark ferruginous convex scale ; rugose, more or less pitted,
and covered with a waxy secretion at the sides. Length 6,
breadth 4, height 3|^ to 4 mm. I have been doubtful whether to
regard it as veritable rohinice, and conclude for the present^ to
designate it as a new variety — suhsimile — agreeing with I'obinice
in the general form and appearance of the scale, the character
of the skin and the dimensions of the legs, but differing in having
the antennae 8-jointed (7-jointed in rohinue) and the eggs white
(pink in rohinice). The antennae and legs of suhsimile measure as
follows in /x : —
Antennal joints: (1) 30-36, (2) 30-36, (3) 45-48, (4) 44-48,
(5) 18-20, (6) 20-21, (7) 18, (8) 28-30.
Legs : femur and trochanter, 135-138 ; tibia, 96-102 ; tarsus,
66-75.
The scale is narrower and more shiny than specimens referred
to E. rohinice, which I lately collected at Tempe, Arizona, on
osage-orange. The Tempe insect has the antennae 7-jointed,
measuring as follows:— (1) 33, (2) 30-36, (3) 42, (4) 33-42,
(5) 18, (6) 15-16, (7) 30-38.
It seems that E. rohinice and its varieties (or closely allied
species ?) are almost certainly natives of the south-west, and are
not identical with E. rohiniarum (Douglas), as has been supposed.
The exact classification of these forms is a matter of difficulty ;
we need more material from different plants and localities, and
a knowledge of the early stages and males.
East Las Vegas, New Mexico, U.S.A.
April 17th, 1902.
179
ON SOME NEW GENERA AND SPECIES OF HYMENO-
PTERA (ICHNEUMONID^, CHRYSIDID^, FOSSORES,
AND AFIDM).
By p. Cameron.
ICHNEUMONID^.
(Continued from p. 111.)
Habrojoppa, gen. nov.
AntennsB dilated aud compressed beyond the middle ; the apex
attenuated. Eyes small, reaching to the middle of the face, the malar
space being large ; they are parallel on the inner side. Occiput mar-
gined. Clypeus not separated from the face by a suture. Labrum
hidden. Mandibles with two equal teeth on the apex. Mesonotum
reticulated, without furrows. Scutellura stoutly keeled laterally ; its
apex incised. Median segment reticulated; the basal and central
arete only are defined ; the sph-acles linear. Areolet much narrowed
at the top ; the transverse cubital nervures almost meeting there ; it
is angled below, and receives the recurrent nervure near the middle ;
the transverse median nervure is received shortly beyond the trans-
verse basal on the outer side. Legs normal ; the claws simple. Petiole
long and slender, dilated at the apex ; the spiracles are placed near
the apex of the basal fourth. Gastrocoeli large, deep. There are seven
segments ; the last three are smaller than the others, and form a sharp
point ; the ovipositor hidden ; the ventral fold only extends to the apex
of the second segment ; the last ventral segment is large, entire,
broadly rounded at the apex ; its base extends to the base of the
penultimate dorsal, and does not extend to the apex of the last dorsal ;
there are only six ventral segments in the female. The apex of the
hinder femora reaches to the base of the fourth segment.
From Charitojoppa it may be known by its more slender
form, by the scutellum not being pyramidal, by the petiole being
more slender, and not broadly dilated at the apex. In the form
of the scutellum it more resembles Magrettia* but it wants the
coxal spine, the pronotum is not incised behind, and the second
and third segments are longitudinally striated ; the petiole is
more slender towards the apex, and longer, more as in Ichneumon
than as in Platyuri.
Habrojoppa rufo-petiolata, sp. nov.
Cserulea ; abdomine albo annulato, basi rufo ; pedibus rufis, tarsis
posticis nigris ; alis fusco-hyalinis. ? . Long. 12 mm.
Hah. Khasia (coll. Kothney).
Antenna black, the eighth to the thirteenth joints white, the
apical joints compressed, fuscous. Head shining, blue, the face and
■''■ Magrettia, I find, is preoccupied in Orthoptera. I now propose the
name of Xenojoppa for it.
p2
180
THE ENTOMOLOGIST.
clypeus sparsely punctured ; sparsely covered with short fuscous hair ;
the inner orbits from near the base to opposite the lower ocellus, a
2nark on the side of the clypeus, the base of the mandibles broadly,
and the palpi yellow. The clypeus not separated from the face by a
suture, nor foveate. Mesonotum coarsely reticulated; the sides de-
pressed, crenulated ; there is a smooth furrow on either side from
nearly opposite the base of the tegulte to the apex. Scutellum smooth,
impunctate, its sides keeled ; at its base is a large, deep, smooth,
slightly curved depression ; from shortly behind the middle to near the
apex it is pallid yellow. The areola is longer than broad ; becomes
slightly and gradually wider to beyond the middle, then becomes
gradually narrower ; its base is rough ; in the middle at the apex is a
stout longitudinal keel ; the posterior median area is stoutly trans-
versely striolated ; the spiracular area behind the spiracles is finely
rugose, in front of them stoutly transversely striolated. The base of
the pronotum has a few curved strife ; above, at the apex, it is
irregularly stoutly striolated ; the lower side is stoutly obliquely
striolated ; the upper part of the mesopleurae and the apex with a few
stout irregular keels ; the rest closely and coarsely punctured, almost
reticulated ; the upper part of the metapleurse at the base coarsely
aciculated ; the middle at the base with fine stout curved keels ; the
rest closely and stoutly reticulated. Mesosternum closely punctured ;
the furrow large, wide and triangular at the apex. Legs ferruginous,
the fore coxre paler at the base ; the apex of the hinder tibiae and the
tarsi black ; the latter spinose beneath. The areolet is narrowed at
the top, but the nervures do not touch ; the recurrent nervure is
received almost in the middle of the areolet. The petiole is ferru-
ginous, yellow at the apex, cariuate down the middle, and striated on
the base of the dilated part ; the second, third, and fourth segments
are blue ; the second and third closely punctured, the others smooth ;
the second acutely striated in the middle between the gastrocceh, which
are striated at the base, their apex smooth and brownish ; the apical
segments are for the greater part yellowish,
HoLcojoppA, gen. nov.
Abdominal segments strongly constricted at the base, and clearly
separated ; the constrictions deep and closely longitudinally striated ;
the segments longitudinally striated, and broadly depressed laterally ;
the petiole raised in the middle, and bearing there two longitudinal
keels ; there are seven segments ; the last is small and has stout
cerci. Scutellum conical, large, distinctly raised above the level of the
mesonotum ; its basal slope is steep, its apical long and gradually
sloped from the top to the apex. Post-scutellum smooth, bifoveate at
the base, and with a deep depression on either side. The median seg-
ment is widely and deeply obliquely depressed at the base ; the areola
is represented by a smooth tubercle ; there are three large are* on the
apical slope ; the spiracular area being also defined ; there are no
spines. Wings larger than usual ; the apex of the abdomen does not
reach to the areolet when folded against it ; the areolet is large, five-
angled, narrowed above ; the two transverse cubital nervures are
roundly curved ; the transverse median nervure is received beyond the
SOME NEW GENERA AND SPECIES OF HYMENOPTERA. 181
transverse basal ; the wings are yellowish hyaline, with the apices of
both infuscated. The hinder legs are much longer than the four
anterior ; they are longer than the body ; the apex of the hinder
femora reaches to the apex of the fourth segment ; the tarsi are
spinose. The head has the vertex depressed between the eyes ; it is
sharply obliquely narrowed behind them ; the face is longish ; the
malar space is large ; the labrum projects. The transverse median
nervure is almost interstitial ; there is the stump of a nervure on the
disco-cubital nervure ; the transverse cubital nervure in the hind wing
is broken far below the middle ; the lower part of the metapleurfB is
bounded by a keel, and there is a stouter curved keel below the middle;
the gastrocoeli are deep, narrow ; the ventral keel extends to the end
of the third segment ; the antenna) in the male are slightly serrate.
A distinct genus, easily known by the constricted segments of
the abdomen separated by deep furrows,
HoLCOJOPPA FLAVIPENNIS, Sp. UOV.
Lutea, flagello antennarum tarsisque posticis nigris ; alls flavo-
hyalinis, apice nigris, stigmate testaceo. ^ . Long. 14-15 mm.
Hah. Khasia (coll. Eothney).
Uniformly rufo-luteous ; the inner orbits, the forelegs in front, the
three divisions of the pleurae behind, and the petiole broadly at the
base, more or less yellowish. The scape of the antennas rufous, punc-
tured, thickly covered with short fuscous hair ; the base of the flagellum
dull rufous, the rest blackish. Head somewhat triangular behind,
being narrowed to a rounded point in the middle ; the face roundly
projecting in the middle, and obscurely punctured ; the sides flat,
yellowish, impunctate ; the clypeus obscurely punctured ; the apex
obliquely depressed ; the mandibles pale yellowish ; the teeth black ;
the palpi rufo-testaceous. Thorax ferruginous above ; the sides paler,
having a yellowish tinge ; thickly covered with short hair, dark on tbe
mesonotum, paler on the pleurae. The roundly pyramidal scutellum
shining, rather thickly covered with longish fuscous hairs, and bearing
all over large deep, not very widely separated, punctures ; the post-
scutellum small, not very distinct ; the space on either side of it de-
pressed, wide, smooth, and having a few stout irregular keels. The
base of the median segment widely separated from the post-scutellum,
raised to nearly the level of the top of the scutellum ; without any
defined area, but with two stout straight keels going down the centre,
which is coarsely irregularly transversely striolated ; the sides rugosely
irregularly reticulated. Propleur£e closely punctured above, yellowish
and impunctate below ; the upper half of the mesopleur^e shining, im-
punctate ; the middle with a wide shallow longitudinal depression
down the centre ; the lower half closely punctured, and of a yellowish
hue at the base and apex ; the metapleurs with a wide oblique de-
pression on the base at the top ; over the sternum is a wide shallow
furrow, bearing stout widely separated, slightly oblique keels. Legs
rufo-testaceous ; the apex of the hinder tibire and the tarsi blackish ;
the fore legs of a paler, more yellowish hue, and thickly covered with
short white hair ; the hair on the hinder tibite and tarsi blacker.
182 THE ENTOMOLOGIST.
Wings yellowish hyaline, the apices blackish ; the areolet narrowed
at the top ; the first cubital nervure slightly, the second distinctly,
roundly curved, the two almost uniting at the top ; the recurrent ner-
vure is received almost in the middle. The basal half of the petiole
greatly narrowed, yellowish ; tiie apical with two stout keels down the
middle, and coarsely punctured ; the other segments coarsely rugosely
punctured, striolated at the base down the centre; all the segments
separated by a deep moderately wide depression ; the ventral surface
whitish.
CKYPTINA.
OSPRYNCHOTUS PERONATUS, Sp. DOV.
Niger, tegulis, apice scutelli, post-scutello, maculis 3 metanoti, ore
orbitisque oculorum fiavis ; pedibus flavis ; coxis, trochanteribus,
femorum posticorum dimidio apicali apiceque tibiarum posticarum
nigris. 2 et ^ . Long. 16, terebra 6 mm.
Hah. Khasia (coll. Rothney).
Antennffi black ; the tenth to fifteenth joints white, stout ; the scape
yellow beneath, and covered with short white hair. Head black ; the
face, except for a conical mark in the middle under the antennae, the
clypeus, labrum, the inner orbits above, and the outer more broadly
below, and the palpi, yellow ; the clypeus is edged with black at the
sides and apex ; the mandibles are entirely black. The face is closely,
the clypeus more coarsely and not so closely punctured. Vertex
strongly punctured, and with a few oblique stride below the ocelli ; the
front depressed, at the sides very smooth and shining. Thorax black ;
a broad line on either side of the base above, the tegulre, scutellum,
except at the base, the post-scutellum, the scutellar keels, the apex of
the median segment at the base and sides, the base more narrowly
than the sides, where the yellow is dilated broadly outwardly, and a
somewhat oval mark immediately under the hind wings, yellow. Meso-
notum closely and strongly punctured, thickly covered with short white
hair ; its middle lobe is distinctly raised at the base ; the scutellum
shining and thickly covered with long white hair, and sparsely punc-
tured ; the punctures are large, round, and shallow ; the post-scutellum
is almost impunctate ; its base is deeply bifoveate ; the depression at
the sides is not striated, and is covered with long white hair. The
median segment, at the base behind the transverse keel, is closely
punctured ; the punctuation is stronger towards the apex, in the
middle of which is a stout short semicircular keel ; in front of the keel
the segment is coarsely punctured, rugosely so at the apex, which has
a slight oblique slope ; its sides and top are bordered by a stout keel ;
the black mark in the middle is rounded at the base, transverse at the
apex, and twice longer than broad. Pro- and meso-pleurje closely
punctured ; the lower part of the former with some stout longitudinal
keels at the apex ; the metapleur^ more strongly punctured ; the punc-
tures run into reticulations, and are stronger on the lower side ; over
the hinder coxte is a large yellow mark, twice longer than broad, and
rounded and narrowed at the top. Wings hyaline, the apex smoky ;
the stigma and nervures black ; the areolet is a little longer than wide,
slightly narrower at the top than at the bottom ; the recurrent nervure
is received shortly beyond the middle ; the second transverse cubital
NOTES ON NEUKOPTERA OF OXON AND BERKS. 183
nervure is bullated on the lower side, but nqt strongly. Legs fulvous ;
all the coxae and trochanters, almost the apical half of the hinder
femora, and the apical third of the posterior tibiae, black ; the hinder
tarsi have a more yellowish paler hue, and are black at the base.
Abdomen black and shining : all the segments are banded with yellow
at the apex ; the ventral surface, except the petiole, pale yellow.
This is an Osprynchotus, Spin., sec. Ashmead, non Kriech-
baumer, which equals Linoceras, Tasch. The genus is new for
the Indian fauna.
(To be continued.)
NOTES ON NEUEOPTEEA OF OXON AND BERKS.
By W. J. Lucas, B.A., F.E.S.
Eecently I received for inspection from Messrs. W. Holland
and A. H. Hamm a box of Neuroptera (other than Odonata)
collected in Berks and Oxon. Insects of this order are so
seldom recorded that the list will probably prove of interest to
those who are working at them. I have to thank Mr. C. A.
Briggs for assisting very greatly in naming the specimens,
especially the more obscure ones.
Oxon.
Ephemeridia. — EpJiemera vulgata, Thames side near Binsey,
and canal side north of Oxford. Cloeon rufulum, Oxford. Cen-
troptilimi luteolmn, Godstow and Oxford.
Planipennia. — Sialis lutaria, canal side north of Oxford, and
Thames side at Binsey. Raphidia xanthostigma, Shotover Hill
(May 28th). Sisjjrafuscata, Thames side at Binsey (May 29th).
Chrysopa flava, University Park, Oxford. C. vulgaris, taken in
the Museum, Oxford (Mar. 28th). C.^eHa, near Oxford. Panorpa
germanica, Stow Wood.
Trichoptera. — Phryganea striata, Charlbury, Wychwood For-
est. LimnopJiilus lunatus, Oxford. Anaholia nervosa, Oxford.
Notodohia ciliaris, canal side north of Oxford (May 26th) ; not a
common species. LeptoceriLS cinereus, Thames side at Binsey.
Mystacides nigra (McLach., Trich Eur.), canal side north of
Oxford. M. aziirea (McLach., Trich. Eur.), Thames side at
Binsey.
Berks.
Ephemeridia. — Ephemera vidgata, Thames side above God-
stow, and Reading. E. danica, Pteading. Leptophlebia marginata,
Thames side above Godstow (June 1st), and Wellington College,
near Reading (April 22nd.) Centroptilum pennidatiim , Thames
^ide near Oxford (May 27th). Ecdyurus volitans, Thames side
above Godstow (June 1st, 1901) ; an interesting capture.
184 THE ENXOMOLOGIS'l.
Planipennia, — Sialis lutaria, Thames side above Godstow.
Raphidia notata, Wokingham, near Reading. Sisyra fimcata,
Thames side above Godstow (June 1st). Hemerohius stupna,
Wellington College Chri/sopa vulgaris, Wellington College.
C. fteptempimctiita, Ferry Hincksey. C. ve7itralis, Tubney W^ood,
and Wokingham. C. perla, Thames side near Kennington.
Panorpa comimmis, Tubney Wood, and East Ilsley. P (jermanica
Tubney Wood, Thames side above Godstow, and Boar's Hill,
near Oxford.
Trichoptera. — Phrygania striata, Eeading. Colpotaulius in-
cisus, Thames side above Godstow. Grammotaulius atomarius,
Eeading. Limnophilas rliombicas, Reading. Notidohia ciliaris,
Thames side above Godstow (June 1st). Goera pilosa, Thames
side above Godstow. Leptoceras annaUcornis, Thames side above
Godstow (June 1st). Mystacides nigra, Thames side above
Godstow, and the Kennet, Reading. Neuroclipsis bimacidata,
Reading. Tinodes wceneri, Thames side above Godstow. Lype
phceopa, the Kennet, Reading. Glossoma boltoni, Thames side
above Godstow.
CONTRIBUTION TO THE LIFE-HISTORY OF LIPHYRA
B1USS0LI8, Westw.
By F. p. Dodd.
(Concluded from p. 156.)
The perfect insect comes forth in twenty-one to twenty-five
days, and further astonishing developments in the life-history of
this strange insect occur. Before bursting the outer shell the
butterfly can be heard moving within, and shortly a sharp
cracking sound announces that the burst has been effected, then
either a [)ortion of the shell, which opens in the centre in front
up to the first furrow, is broken right out, or it opens sufficiently
above after breaking away at the rim to admit of the imago's
emergence. But who would recognize L. brassoUs now as he
crawls out ? Instead of the weak drooping wings of a butterfly,
he has little short appendages like a freshly-emerged moth, arid
lying very flat ; the front wing is creamy white to extreme tip,
and the edge of the hind wing projects from under this ever so
little ; the abdomen looks very large, a thick mass of furry-
looking substance showing on each side of it to the tip ; on the
thorax small tufts of loose brownish scales may be noted, which
easily roll off. It is soon seen that the white appearance of fore
wing is caused by a dense covering of fugitive scales ; there is
also a small patch on each side of thorax. As the wings slowly
lengthen, the density of the scales lessens sufliciently to admit
of a view of the black and rich yellow colouring underneath.
LIFE-HISTORY OF LIPHYRA BRA.SSOLIS. 185
These white scales tly off after expansion of wings at the least
breath of air ; they are blown away much more easily than the
scales on our clearwinged hawks {Hemaris kingii, hylas, and
janus). A stroke or two of the insect's wings detaches everyone
in a cloud ; therefore it is a difficult matter to kill and set
specimens and leave a fair proportion of these scales. Tbe
matter on the abdomen is of coarse also composed of scales ;
they are dark grey, packed very densely, and cover about half
of ventral surface, reach further along the sides, but do not
reach the thorax, none being on the upper surface. These are
much more adhesive, and must be scraped away, as they cannot
be blown oi3^; they come away in masses, and fasten lightly to
anything they come in contact with, and appear to be held
together. Upon examining them with a lens, exceedingly delicate
threads can be discerned dispersed throughout. The legs and
antennae are also clothed with minute and easily detachable
white scales.
The insect requires longer than the largest Australian moths
to pump its wings to their full length. The wings of even the
gigantic Zeuzeridae attain their full proportions in fifteen or
twenty minutes, and I have seen a five-inch hepialid expand the
wings in seven minutes ; but our butterfly requires twenty-five
to thirty minutes, and instead of being prepared for flight in a
little over an hour, like the Antheraea and many other large
moths, is quite helpless for a much longer period, and none of
my specimens exhibited the least desire to fly in three or even
four hours. The great Oniithoptera cassandra flies in a com-
paratively short time.
The butterflies are very oily; in some instances grease came
through abdomen in less than a week after setting. A thick
layer of almost liquid grease lines the abdomen, so it was
necessary to resort to stuffing the insects ; unfortunately this
operation causes displacement of the extra scales to some extent,
especially in the male.
As to the butterfly being crepuscular in its habits, I may
mention that I am frequently out in the twilight, but have not
met with it ; that may be on account of its rarity. However,
they are decidedly wideawake in the daytime. I have captured
several which I had disturbed as any ordinary butterfly would be
disturbed. Several times they have flown from near ant-nests
which I was about to examine ; one specimen was seen flying
across an open space in the early afternoon, and had evidently
come from a fair distance, as there were no green ants in the
vicinity. Many years ago I caught my first specimen, a female,
on a hot summer day about eleven o'clock. It flew rapidly
across a scrub and settled on a branch under the foliage,
precisely as the egg-depositing female did which I observed in
July, 1900.
186 THE ENTOMOLOGIST.
Now, concerning the loose scales on this unique butterfly, we
have no evidence that the larvse are welcome inhabitants of the
ants' nests. However, it is highly probable that the ants have
no friendly feeling for the perfect insect, and would most likely
attack and kill it during its long rest after emergence if it were
not specially and wonderfully protected. So it will be seen that
the loose scales act as a perfect protection, for directly the ants
encounter these they are in trouble ; they fasten on to their feet
and impede their movements, or, if their antennae or mandibles
come in contact with any part of the butterfly, the scales adhere
thereto, so that the ant is soon in a bad way, and has quite
enough to do in attempting to free himself of his encumbrances
without taking any further interest in the butterfly, from which
he retreats as well as possible. It is exceedingly ludicrous to
observe the ants endeavouring to free themselves ; their legs
move awkwardly, and their mandibles are opened and closed in
evident annoyance and perplexity, and they are much concerned
at the state of their antenna, for the obnoxious scales will not
be shaken off, and they seem to become very low-spirited.
It is amusing to observe this dejected change in an ant after
his first spar with L. brassolis, for he is such a pert pugnacious
fellow, and perfectly willing to tackle anything that moves if in
proximity to his pets or nest. As mentioned, I had several
small nests of ants taken home, and could introduce them to the
butterfly as I wished. It would doubtless be highly entertaining
to watch a numerous colony of ants making the acquaintance of a
freshly-emerged butterfly.
The small wings of the insect enable it to get through the
nest entrances. The scales on fore wing are necessary to his
safety whilst he is crawling out, for the ants might in some cases
evade his legs and get on to the thorax ; but if the scales there
did not vanquish him, those on the fore wing would. As the
butterfly's abdomen becomes strong enough, he raises the tip to
touch the support where he is hanging ; in that position he is
invulnerable, hundreds of ants could not hurt him. As the fore
wings lengthen and touch there is no further need of the scales
thereon. The wind doubtless dislodges the majority before the
insect flies off, but the other scales would not disappear wholly
for some time.
I placed four larvae on a nest where I knew there were none,
and afterwards visited it, and obtained two pupa therefrom.
Upon another small tree with several ant habitations, seven
larvae were placed, and going there some days later I found one
chrysalis on the outside of a nest, one within, several attenuated
larvae wandering about the tree— the ants, having become
familiar with their presence, taking no notice of them — and a
dead larva on the ground. It would appear that the entrances
to the nests were too small for the larger caterpillars to gain
LIFE-HISTORY OF LIPHYRA BRASSOLIS. 187
admittance. Once I saw a larva on the outside of a new nest,
and I took a pupa on another ; these were in localities where I
had not interfered with the ants. These instances serve to show
that the larvae pass from one domicile to another, presumably
when their pabulum is exhausted in one. They are very slow
moving, and when they find it necessary to change quarters,
they must wander after sundown, for out of over eighty larvae
and pupse which passed through my hands not a single example
was parasitised; but the other Lycpenids I have mentioned, though
seemingly always accompanied by a number of ants, in both
larval and pupal stages, are frequently victimised by Diptera
and ichneumons ; but these species do not live in the ant nests,
and being day feeders (I don't know about night), numbers are
stung.
The larvae of L. hrassolis are evidently so tough-skinned that
the mandibles of the ants can make little or no impression upon
them, for in placing specimens upon a nest, the inmates rush
out at them, catch hold of the caterpillar rim, and appear to be
acting most viciously. They also endeavour to reach the head
or legs, but these are at once protected, the creature just lowers
its great sides and is secure. After examining caterpillars which
have been on nests for several hours, and tugged at and nipped
by dozens of ants, not a mark or wound was discernible ; yet, if
the slightest cut is made in the rim with a knife, juices issue as
from any ordinary caterpillar with an opening in the skin.
In conclusion, I may mention that it is not all pleasure
searching for L. hi'assolis, or other insects, in the habitations of
the green ants. This species is as plucky and determined as
the fierce and dreaded "bulldog" and "jumper" ants, and come
trooping in hundreds from all parts of the tree when a nest is
disturbed. Then there is the multitude in the nest itself, also
those in other nests, for often there are many in even a small
tree. They are remarkably quick to get upon and spread them-
selves over an intruder, and do not waste their energies in biting
one's clothing ; but directly they reach the flesh they commence
operations, and one's neck and arms suffer considerably. The
bite of the insect is trifling, but he discharges a liquid on to the
bitten spot, which gives sharp pain. In approaching closely to
an ants' nest, or where they are in attendance upon scales,
aphides, or other insects, they show fight unmistakably. Whilst
they are prancing and plainly showing that they are desirous of
a closer acquaintanceship, it will be noticed that the abdomens
are held up and occasionally jerked forward ; this jerking action
means that the insect has brought his little " squirt" into play,
a jet of decidedly acrid liquid being discharged therefrom, sent
straight over his head, and capable of striking an object several
inches direct in front before it assumes a downward tendency.
Having received several of these jets, or part of them, in the
188 THE ENTOMOLOGIST.
eyes, on the lips, and often bad the liquid in cuts or scratches, I
can testify as to its stinging properties. When hundreds of ants
are sending forth these jets, which can be seen against the sun,
it behoves one to be careful when in their immediate vicinity.
We have many interesting species in Queensland, but this green
tree insect, with his vast colonies, strangely used larvse, and
queer and varied acquaintances, is the most remarkable of all.
Warburton Street, Townsville, Queensland.
A LIST OP TORTRICES TAKEN IN SOUTH ESSEX
BETWEEN 1885 AND 1901.
By a. Thurnall.
(Continued from p. 169.)
Grnpholitha cinerana, Haw. — Considered by many to be a var. of
nisella. I have not met with it, but, if I am not mistaken, Mr. Harwood
told me once that he takes it near Colchester.
G. nuirouiacuUma. — Souiewbat local, but usually common (some-
times very common) where it occurs, amoni^st Seiwcin jacobe^.a, on the
seeds of which plant the larva feeds in September. I once bred a
specimen, which did not emerge till the second season after spinning
up. Near Harold Wood, Witliam, Upminster, &c.
G. caiiipoliliana, Tr. — Generally distributed amongst sallow, from
which it may be beaten in June.
G. minutana, Hb.— Local and uncommon amongst poplar. Near
Lea Bridge, Wanstead, and Ongar are the only places where I have
taken it.
G. trimaculana, Don. — Exceedingly abundant and variable, may be
beaten from elm in hundreds ; the larva equally common earlier in
the season.
G. penkleriana, Pisch. — Common in many places amongst nut
bushes and alder, on both of which the larva feeds.
G. obtasana, Haw. — Locally common. I have beaten it from oak,
wild rose, and blackthorn. Perhaps most abundant at Fairmead
Bottom, Chingford. Larva quite unknown to me.
G. oicevana, Hb. — Very common amongst holly, in the shoots of
which the larva may be found abundantly in June.
Phlacodes tetraguetrana, Haw. — Equally common in May and early
June amongst birch shrubs.
P. imvnindana, Fisch. — Not very scarce (and widely distributed)
where alder grows commonly, in May ; a second and less common
brood in August.
P. demarnimia, Fisch. — Eather scarce and local amongst birch.
I have taken it at Loughton, Warley, and near Ingatestone.
Hypermecia angustana, Hb. — Not uncommon amongst its food-plant,
sallow, in most places where its food-plant is abundant.
Batodes angustiorana, Haw. — Very common, especially upon yew,
TORTRICES TAKEN IN SOUTH ESSEX. 189
which seems to be the favourite food of the larva, which, however,
feeds upon a variety of other trees and plants.
Pmiisca bilunana, Haw. — Very common at rest on birch trunks,
but not always easily seen on occount of its whitish colour matching
so closely the bark of the tree.
P. oj^piessana, Tr. — Very local on Popnlua nigra trunks. I have
only met with it, as far as Essex is concerned, near Loughton.
P. corticann, Hb. — Very abundant almost everywhere amongst oaks ;
varying from greenish to almost coal-black.
P. ju'ofiindana, Fb. — Much less common ; may be occasionally
beaten from oak, wliitethorn, &c., at Loughton, but I have not taken
it elsewhere.
P. npthahnicana, Hb. — Local, but fairly common where aspen
shrubs grow freely. May be beaten from them towards the end of
September. Ougar Park Woods, near Ingatestone, and near St. Osyth.
P. occidtana, Dough— Probably found in most plantations where
larch grows freely, but I have only met with it near Brentwood,
where the larva is in some seasons not at all rare.
P. solfindriana, L. — Distributed throughout wherever birch shrubs
are found ; some of the numerous vars. are very pretty.
P. semifuscana , St. — Usually considered a common insect, but I
have only met with a few larvae on sallow near Thames Haven ; it
must surely be found in many other places in the county.
P. sordidana, Hb. — Common where it occurs, more especially in the
larva state, on alders. Warley, Wanstead, Harold Wood, Witham, &c.
Ephippiphora buiiaculuna, Don. — Local, and never very common
amongst birch shrubs. Near Brentwood, Wanstead Park, and rarely
at Loughton.
E. pjiiu/iana, Haw. — Generally common, especially in the larva
state, in thistle stems. Varies much in size, some of my specimens
being no larger than the next species, circiana, Zell., which I have
not taken in S. Essex.
E. inopiana, Haw. — Very local. I have only found it in two or
three places. On the roadside between Stamford Eivers and Epping,
and more commonly in a boggy place near East Horndon, always
amongst Inula dysentrrka, in the roots of which the larva passes
the winter.
E. briinnichiana. Frol. — ^Distributed throughout amongst TumJago
farfara, in the roots of which the larva may be found in the autumn
and early winter. I have bred specimens of a creamy white colour,
with scarcely any markings on the upper wings.
E. fceveana, Haw. — May generally be found in the larva state in
the winter in the old gnarled roots of Artemisia vulgaris ; the imago
not so often seen. Laindon, Lea Bridge, Fobbing, and Pitsea.
E. si(jnatana, Doagl. — Mr. Machin used to beat this insect rarely
from blackthorn (its food-plant) and oak at Chingford, but I have
searched for it there many times in vain.
E. trigeminana, St. — tjsually to be found in waste places and on
railway banks wherever its food-plant, Senecio jacobfca, grows. The
larva feeds on the roots, and may be dug up freely in the late autumn.
When bred, the female especially is a very pretty insect.
E. tetragonana, St. — Local, and rather scarce. My own series
190 THE ENTOMOLOGIST.
were obtained by beating the wild rose bushes at Loughtou at the
beginning of August. Varies much in dimensions. I liave a specimen
from Hunstanton scarcely larger than the little C. artjijrana.
E. populana, Pb.— Somewhat local amongst its food-plant, sallow,
and, I think, willow as well. I once bred a number from larvffi feeding
on dwarf sallow in Wicken Fen.
E. (jalliculana, Zell. — May be sometimes beaten from oak, or found
at rest on the trunk, but by far the best way to obtain it is to gather
the old oak-apples in the winter ; the imago comes out, but not always
freely, in May. One season I bred over fifty, and another winter's
work resulted in a single specimen.
E. obscuraua, St. — Has been taken rarely in Epping Forest, but I
have never had the good fortune to meet with it in Essex or elsewhere.
Olindia ulinana, Hb. — A single worn female specimen beaten from
a hedge in early June last at Benfleet or Hadleigh is the only one I
have met with.
Seiiiasia apiniana, Dup. — Decidedly rare. I have taken it flying in
the afternoon late in August at Fairmead Bottom, Chingford, and a
few worn ones (generally singly) in three or four distant localities.
Although there can be little doubt that whitethorn is the food-plant of
the larva, it has never been bred to my knowledge.
S. ianthinana, Dup. — Much more common than the last, flying
over whitethorn, in the berries of which the little pink larva may be
found in September and October, along with the greyish larva of
Laverna atra. It leaves when full-fed, and spins up jn bark ; when
bred it has a rich purple gloss ou the fore wings, which soon fades away.
S. rutillana, Zell. — Common, and generally distributed wherever
Damns carota, its food-plant, grows. Larvte in abundance in the um-
bels, often eight or ten in a single one.
*S'. ivccheriana, Schiff. — Not rare at rest on apple and cherry trunks,
in the bark of wliich it feeds in the larval state. Most ot my own
series were taken on the trunks of wild cherry growing in Wanstead
Park.
Coccyx strobilana, Hb. — Local, and more often found in the larval
stage in the cones of spruce fir, pupating therein in April, when by
gathering a lot of the fallen cones a series may be bred. I have only
met with it near Warley and near Blackmore.
C. splendidulann, Gn.- — Fairly common at rest on oak trunks, and
may be often bred from oak-apples gathered during the winter.
C. annjrana. — Generally common in May and June at rest on oak
trunks ; not very variable, the only notable specimen is one of a dirty
white, without any prominent markings, taken in Bushwood, Wanstead
(May 7th, 1892). May often be bred freely from oak-apples gathered
in the winter months.
C. nigrkana, H. S. — Eare and very local. I took it for the first
time in Essex, I believe, on Jubilee-day, 1887, by beating tlie boughs
of a fir tree near Brentwood, taking about twenty on that occasion. I
took it again (two only) in 1892 ; have not worked for it since.
C. hyrciniana, D. L. — Very common and variable amongst spruce
fir everywhere.
Hemimene finibriana, Haw. — Not common, but widely distributed
amongst oaks in April. I have bred a very few from oak -apple"
TORTRICES TAKEN IN SOUTH ESSEX. 191
gathered in the winter, and netted it very rarely flying in the sunshine
over oak bushes.
Pu'tinia buoUana, Schiff. — Very common wherever Pinus sylrestns
grows, the larvae often doing considerable damage to the young shoots.
R. pinicolana, Doubl. — Much rarer than the last species ; singly in
Wanstead Park, Warley, and Blackmore at rest on P. sylveatris.
R. pinivorana, Zell. — Pretty common amongst Pinus throughout ;
variable. Some of the vars. are very pretty.
Carpocapsa spleiidaiia, Hb. — Much more abundant in the larval
than the perfect state ; the acorns in September and October are
sometimes much infested with them ; I bred a large number last year
from acorns picked up at Loughton the previous autumn.
C. fjrossana. Haw. — Locally common in the larval state in beech-
nuts, often two seasons before coming out, like the previous species.
The imago may sometimes be beaten from beech boughs, or found at
rest on the trunks. Epping Forest, Brentwood, &c.
C. pomonella, Lin. — Found, I believe, wherever apple trees grow ;
also feeds in the apples of the wild crab. The spun-up larva may be
found in the winter and spring under loose pieces of bark or moss on
the trunks.
C. Juliana, Curt. — Somewhat local, but common in certain localities.
May be found early in June at rest on oak trunks. I have met with
it in several localities, but nowhere so commonly as around Wanstead.
C. nimbana, H. S. — This very local and very distinct species seems
to be much wanted by collectors. I have bred a good number, perhaps
fifty, in the past few years from spuu-up larvfe found under rough
bark on beech trunks in Epping Forest in the winter. Very occasion-
ally found at rest thereon early in May. I have never met with the
feeding larva.
Opadiafunebrana, Tr. — Larvfc sometimes found in bought damsons.
The late Mr. Machin used to beat the imago rarely from blackthorn at
Chingford, and he bred a series from larvae feeding in the fruit. I
have not met with the imago in Essex.
Endopisa nigricana, St. — Very common in pea-fields, or on railway
banks amongst vetches; varies a good deal in size and depth of colour.
For this reason, I suppose, some authors have made two species from
this insect.
Stigmonota leguminana, Zell. — Always very rare and local. Although
constantly on the look-out for it every June, I can only boast of three
rather indifferent specimens in sixteen seasons ! Strictly confined to
the Loughton part of Epping Forest, from the village to the borders
of Monkwood. Larva unknown to me.
S. perlepidana, Haw. — Not particularly abundant ; may be some-
times found flying high up in the sunshine in May. I have bred it
from larvae taken at Loughton feeding on Lathyrus macrorrhizxis.
S. biternana, Gn. — Local amongst furze in open spaces in Epping
Forest and near Chelmsford, but nowhere so abundantly as on Warley
Common at the end of May and early in June.
S. compositella, Fb. — May be found almost always in clover-fields
by sweeping in May and August. Near Childerditch, Ongar, Canvey
Island, &c.
S. iveirana, Dougl. — Very common in Epping Forest, at Brentwood,
192 THE ENTOMOLOGIST.
&c., amongst beech. The larva may be found in September and
October between two leaves spun together, pupating therein ; very
easy to breed.
S. redimitana, Gn. — As common as the previous species, and more
generally distributed amongst oaks. The habits of both larva and
imago are also precisely the same as weirana.
S. rpgiana, Zell. — Occurs almost everywhere where sycamores grow ;
the larva spun up under the bark through the winter and spring ; the
imago not so often met with. The nearly allied and equally beautiful
trauniana, Schiff., I have never met with.
S. roseticolana, Zell. — Common in the larval state everywhere, in
the " hips " of the wild roses. Not difficult to rear if pieces of rough
bark are put in the pot for the larvffi to spin up in.
;S'. germarana, Hb. — -May be beaten from or netted flying round oak
boughs in May and early June. Epping Forest, Warley, Hadleigh, &c.
I have spent many, many hours vamly searching for the larva ; one
was once bred casually by the Rev. G. Raynor from some oak twigs
gathered to feed other larvae on.
Dichrorampha pnlifana, Hb. — Local, but has been met with very
sparingly in several distant localities amongst its food-plant, Achillea
viillefolium. Near Upminster, Pitsea, Harold Wood, and Purfleet.
D. aipinana, Tr.— I have only met with it in a small clump of
Taiiacetaiii vul;/<ire grooving in a garden at Stratford ; the larva in the
roots through the winter, and the imago late in July at rest during
the daytime amongst the foliage.
D. alpeatrana, H. S. — -This species, which I had the pleasure of
adding to the British list in 1893, seems to be very local ; indeed, I
have only met with it in the original spot where it first turned up
in Epping Forest, and in a similar locality about half a mile away.
It has since been taken in Sussex, and doubtless in other places.
For remarks concerning habits, food-plant, viile E.M. M. vol. xxix.
p. 175.
D. petiverella, L. — -Very common almost everywhere amongst
Achillea viillefolium.
D. seqnaua Hb, — Somewhat local, but generally common where
found. 1 have bred it from A. millefoliwn. Loughton, Ingatestone,
Childerditch, and many other places.
D. pliuiihaijana, Tr. — Very common and generally distributed ;
seems very partial to railway banks.
D. acuminatana, Zell. — Local and uncommon. I have only met
with it very sparingly amongst Clinjmntheimun leucatithemum on the
railway bank near Harold Wood in September, and the first brood
early in June at Mill Green, near lugatestone.
D. siiiiplicimiii, Haw. — Not uncommon amongst Artemisia vulgaris,
in the roots of which the larva feeds, through the winter. The imago
is sluggish, and when beaten out immediately makes for the shelter
of its food-plant again.
D. roiisortana, St. — Local and uncommon. I have very occasion-
ally taken tlie larva and imago on railway banks. Harold Wood,
Woodford, and near Thames Haven. The larval habits are different
from the other species of this genus, feeding in the growing shoots of
Chrymnthemuvi leucanthcmnm, and pupating therein.
NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS. 193
Lipoptycha plumhana, Scop. — Frequents the same places with
plwiibagana, and the two species are generally to be found together.
The allied L. satitnuina I have never met with.
Fijrodes rheediella, L. — May be taken freely at the end of May
flying in the sunshine round the tops of tall hawthorn bushes or
hedges. Generally distributed. The larva feeds in the green berries.
Catoptria albeisana. — Not common any wliere, but widely distributed.
I have taken a fair number at Warley, also, but rarely at Wanstead,
Epping, Ingatestone, and Hadleigh. The larva may be found in
September in rolled-up leaves of honeysuckle, and is not difficult
to breed.
C. ulicetana, Haw. — In swarms round almost every furze bush. I
once or twice met with specimens almost as strongly marked as the
well-known Scotch form (isseclcma, St., but as a rule tliey are very
plainly marked in Esses.
C. hjjpericana, Hb. — Somewhat local amongst Hypericum., in the
young shoots of which the larva may be found early in May. Localities
are Ingatestone, Blackmore, South Weald, Chelmsford, &c.
(To be continued.)
NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS.
The British Museum Collection of British Lepidoptera. — In
connection with the rearrangement of this collection some living larvte
have been received from Mr. A. M. Smallpeice, Ringwood, Hants, which
have been blown and preserved. We have also received promises of
larvffi from Mr. Ed. H. Thornhill, Boxworth, Cambridge ; and of a
large collection of preserved pupae from the Rev. J. Green, Rostrevor,
Clifton. These will all be extremely useful, and we are much obliged
to the donors. — G. F. Hampson.
Notodonta deyinopa. Lower. — I stated {ante, p. 42) that the pupa
of this moth is furnished with a sharp spike on the head, and that the
only explanation accounting for the removal of the round piece of the
hard cocoon must be that the pupa cuts it out, for no piercing instru-
ment could be found upon the moth. I have now ascertained that the
moth, with this spike, cuts the fragment out ! The particulars are
these : obtaining some of this season's cocoons, containing pupte, I cut
holes in them, determined to watch for developments, and was soon
rewarded by observing that the first moth had burst its pupal shell,
and was moving, very deliberately, backwards and forwards, in fact,
pushing against the wall in front. Upon removing more of the
cocoon, to admit of a better view of the operation, I was pleased and
surprised to see that the portion of the pupal shell covering the eyes
and that above holding the spike, remained fixed to the moth's head ; it
is kept in position by two little pegs which pass in between the eyes.
I have since tried to bottle several of the motljs with the head-piece
attached, but they strike it off directly they emerge. However, I have
sent the pupal head-pieces, cocoons, chrysalids, &c., to a well-known
ENTOM. — JULY, 1902. Q
194 THE ENTOMOLOGIST.
entomologist, who may have something to say upon this interesting
species. — F. P. Dodd ; Warburton Street, Townsville, Queeushxnd.
Hawk Moth Pupating on Branches of Trees. — It appears tiiat
my note upon Panacra lujnnriu [ante, p. 73) is not sufficiently clear, for
a leading entomologist in England has taken it to mean that the larvffi
had bored into the wood of the trees to pupate ! Naturally, he doubted
such a strange statement. I trust no others have read the note as he
did. Of course the larvie were spun up in the leaves and twigs. — F. P.
Dodd ; Warburton Street, Townsville, Queensland.
ToRTRicES IN South Essex. — When reading the very interesting
article by Mr. Thurnall on " Tortrices in South Essex between 1855
and 1901," I was reminded when I reached the note on Phoxopterijx
myitillana that I had recently seen, lying on one of the many new
roads in this district, a quantity of bilberry which had been used in
the packing of a load of drain-pipes. Such consignments, packed in
the same way, are probably commonly seen at Stratford, and might
readily account for the importation of P. myrtillana, I might add that
Ortkotccnia ericetana does occur in South Essex. I have taken it both
at Benfleet and Shoeburyness. — F. G. Whittle ; 3. Marine Avenue,
Southend, June 13th, 1902.
Food-plants of the Larva of Cnephasia sinuana, Stph. — In his
very interesting " List of Tortrices taken in South Essex, Mr. A.
Thurnall says {ante, p. 168) that he expects wild hyacinth {SciUa
nutans) is the only food-plant of the larva of Cnephasia (" Sciaphila")
silt nana, and no other food-plant is mentioned in Mr. Meyrick's ' Hand-
book of British Lepidoptera,' p. 589 (1895). The idea that the larva
confines its attentions to Seilla nutans is, however, at variance with
the fact, recorded by myself in Ent. Mo. Mag., ser. 2, x. 105 (1899),
that Mr. G. Elisha has occasionally bred a few specimens of C. sinuana
(together with many of C. pasivana), from spun-up flowers of Chry-
santheiinun lencanthemun) , collected in a wood in North Kent. — Eustace
E. Bankes ; Norden, Corfe Castle, June 7th, 1902.
The Coccid Lecanopsis ouoiisi. — This species was very briefly
described by Signoret and Lichtenstein in 1886, and has never since
been definitely recognized. In Biol. Cent. Amer., Coccidae, p. 15, I
surmised, that it might be the Ceioplastodes niveiis (Ckll., 1893). I have
now received examples of it from Guanajuato, Mexico, collected there
by Dr. Alfred Duges, who tells me that he did indeed send it to
Lichtenstein many years ago, but received no reply concerning it.
This, I think, may be considered to settle the matter, and the species
will be known as CeropUistodes dughi — T. D. A. Cockeeell ; E. Las
Vegas, N.M., May 31st, 1902.
Colour Changes in Larval Hairs op Arctia villica. — The influence
of certain foods in causing alterations in the coloration of some
animals is well known to everyone. As a further instance of this
influence in the case of one of the Lepidoptera may be of interest to
entomologists, I venture to record the following facts : — I have found
that if the larvffi of Arctia villica, which usually live on various low-
growing herbs, are fed entirely on sallow from the time they are
hatched, the hairs covering their bodies are of a black instead of the
CAPTURES AND FIELD REPORTS. 195
usual brown colour. The larvae are therefore perfectly black with the
exception of the red head and legs. The imagines resulting from
larvae modified in this way present no variation from the usual type.
I have observed that when the larvae are partly grown, if the character
of their food is changed, and dock and other herbs are substituted for
sallow, they, after the next change of skin, are clothed with hairs more
or less approaching the usual brown colour. — Albert May ; Hayling
Island, May 16th, 1902.
Note on Calocampa exoleta. — On March 12th and 13th I captured
at sugar three of these insects (one male and two females). They were
placed under a glass cylinder with various food-plants, and a sprig of
sallow with catkins ; the latter were occasionally moistened with syrup
on which the moths feasted every evening, Nothing particular was
observed until April 13th, when I noticed two batches of ova had been
deposited on nettle ; these proved to be infertile. On April 15th and
20th pairing took place, and the male was then released. By May 3rd
over three thousand ova had been laid, and on May 13th the two
females, being still alive, were set at liberty. — Edward Goodwin;
Canon Court, Wateringbury, Kent, June 16tli, 1902.
Protracted Emergence of Tephrosia biundularia. — I have been
rearing the above from eggs from a female taken at Boscombe last
April. The imagoes commenced to emerge on Feb. 8th, and have
been coming out regularly up to to-day (June 16th). The imagoes
show very little variation. — J. A. Finzi ; 53, Hamilton Terrace, N.W.
CAPTURES AND FIELD REPORTS.
Collecting near Tangier in August and September, 1901. —
Autumn is the end of the dry season, and so everything is parched
up, including the flowers, and there is not a very large variety of
insects on the wing, but we caught Lycana telicanus, L. bivtica, Chri/so-
2}hanus pJilceas, Papilio podaUrius, P. tnachaon, during the first few days
of August, and Catocala elocata came in to light on the 11th; they
were beautifully fresh in condition. During the first week we saw
Charaxes jasius, but did not catch one until the 16th. They were
numerous and in splendid condition. They sit head downwards,
chiefly on branches of the cypress, and are very fond of basking with
their wings open ; often they fly right away over a large area, and come
back again to the very branch they left. We saw ova of this species
on arbutus, and when the larvfe hatched they were green with black
horns at each end, the pair by the head having a fork. On the 14th
a fine specimen of Clucrocam/xi, celerio flew into the hall about 6.30 p.m.,
and on the 20th we caught a worn Catocala conversa during bright
sunlight. The next day we took a perfect male H. zelleri, and a
perfect Deiupeia palchella. 1 obtained C. celerio again in the hall on
August 25th ; the following day freshly emerged specimens of P.
machaon were out in great numbers, and we caught several beauties.
There were also many more P. podaUrius than earlier in the month.
We found several larvae of the latter feeding on plum and cherry ; they
196 THE ENTOMOLOGIST.
feed up at a great pace. When first hatched the larva is black, and the
sldn very rough ; after the first change it is black, then green with
orange spots, and turns yellow before it pupates. We caught twelve
Hesperia nostrodamus in one small patch of rough grass on the 27tli.
They were mostly very good specimens, and seemed very fond of
sitting on the lumps of earth. C. eiiusa was about in fair numbers.
By watcliing the plumbago bushes in the evenings I caught ten C.
celerin : one evening I caught three specimens, and on another two.
Tliey are very regular in their appearance, always coming from 6.15
to G.45. A friend used to watch them hovering round some begonia
plants he had in pots in his verandah, and by this means got some
ova, which are green at first and laid singly on the upper or lower
side of the leaves. The larva hatches out in about nine days, and is
light green with a long pink horn. When about a week old it has two
purple eye-like marks on the enlarged segments behind the head.
There are brown and green varieties of larvae, as in C. elpenor. On
Sept. 3rd we went to a field in an open plain, where my father had
seen two or three Deiopeia pulchella a day or two before, when he was
riding. We caught twenty-five without any trouble, and as many the
next day, and were able to bring back some live females which laid a
lot of ova. These hatched in about five days, and fed on a plant
which abounded in the field where we caught them ; it was a low-
growing plant witli woolly leaves. The larvi^e fed-up well, and were
brown with reddish spots and some black hairs when I last saw
them. The last species I caught before leaving was Argynnis
pandora, a very worn female, which we induced to lay by giving her
some violet-roots in water in a breeding-cage. This is the only one I
have seen here, and the date (Sept. IGth) seems very late. The next
day a good Euprepia pndica was brought to us. Some of the moths I
got at light and while butterflying are : — Grammodes bifasciata and G.
alglra, Leucanitia stolida, Catocala electa, Hemerophila abriqitaria, Acontia
luctuosa, Noctua nigrum, larvae of Acronyeta psl. I noticed a rather
interesting example of memory and protective colouring, for in a long
hedge of geranium there was one white leaf, and on this a white
butterfly or two used to roost regularly for over a week. We did not
see much of Sphinx convolvuli, but we were early, I think, for its
appearance, as we left on Sept. 17th. Pyrameis cardui, Vanessa
atalania, Parage egeria, and the two whites, Pierisrapce and P. hrassiccB,
were not very common, but Lycana argiolus was abundant. During
the end of August Macroglossa stellatariini was common always. There
was only rain on two occasions, and then only showers, but from
Christmas to Easter it does rain. — G. Meade-Waldo ; Eaton College.
Plusia moneta, &c., at Finchley. — P. moneta appears to be fairly
well established here, as by searching Aconitum I have taken the larvte
in three gardens widely apart. Night-searching for larvre at Hamp-
stead during the past two weeks has resulted in my taking Noctua
durapeziimi, which species, however, is not so plentiful as has been the
case hitherto. Noctua triangulum, N. f estiva, N. augur, N. baia, Tri-
phcBH a fimbria, T. comes. Mania typica, Leucania litliurgyria, L. impura,
were all more or less plentiful. — V. E. Shaw; 8, Moss Hall Grove,
North Finchley, May 29th, 1902.
SOCIETIES. 197
CoLiAS HYALE IN 1902. — I took a male C. hyale here to-day, not
far from where I took two specimens on Oct. 20th last year. Are we
going to have another clouded -yellow year? — Percy E. Freke ;
Folkestone, May 25th, 1902.
CoLiAS EDUSA IN 1902. — To-day one of my boys, who was playing
cricket at Felixstowe, saw one of these butterflies in a field where
clover and vetches were growing. He gave chase to it and nearly
knocked it down with his cap. Tliere were a few gleams of sun during
the afternoon, Init otlierwise it has been a cold unseasonable day and,
considering the wet wintry kind of weather we have experienced since
the last week of April, it is rather strange that this species should
have put in an appearance. It can scarcely have been an immigrant.
Gebvase F. Mathew; Dovercourt, Essex, June 11th, 1902.
EupiTHEciA trisignaria IN SCOTLAND. — I liave been fortunate in
rearing several specimens of this insect from larvae taken on Angelica
sylvestris last September in Argyleshire. I cannot ascertain whether
it has hitherto been noticed in Scotland, and this record of it may
therefore be interesting. It certainly does appear in the Clyde
District list published last summer. — John A. Nix ; 20, Hans Place,
S.W.
Amphidasys betularia var. doubledayaria in Essex. — On May 27th
I bred a line example of the above from a larva taken here last autumn.
This is the first time I have observed the variety in this district. To-
day I bred another, a very interesting variety, thorax and abdomen
black, front part of head white, wings nearly black, dusted here and
there with white atoms. — Gervase F, Mathew ; Dovercourt, Essex,
June 11th, 1902.
SOCIETIES.
Entomological Society of London. — May 1th, 1902. — The Eev.
Canon Fowler, M. A., D. Sc, F.L.S., President, in the chair. — Mr.
Charles R. Cliichester, B.A., M.B., L.R.C.P., of Bathurst, Gambia,
West Africa, and Clonmore, Co. Cork ; and Mr. J. H. Lewis, of Ophir,
Otago, New Zealand, were elected Fellows of the Society. — Mr. H. W.
Shepheard-Walwyn exhibited a gynandromorphous specimen of AntJio-
charis cardaniines, taken near Winchester in 1899. The left side was
that of a normal male, the right that of a normal female, with the
exception of a splash of orange pigment on the under side of the
primary. — Mr. H. Goss exhibited male specimens of Saturnia carpini
from Essex, bred on whitethorn, and three males of the same species
caught in Surrey by the aid of bred virgin females. He remarked that
as a rule bred specimens were smaller than wild, but the bred Essex
specimens were much larger than those captured in Surrey. The
Essex specimens were light in colour, while the Surrey specimens
were not only much smaller in size, but very dark, probably because
their larvae had fed upon Erica or Culluna. — Colonel C. Swiuhoe
announced the emergence of Comis ligniperda in the Zoological
Society's Gardens from a pupa received in a piece of wood from South
198 THE ENTOMOLOGIST.
Africa, and said that it was remarkable that the species should have
been introduced there, and then brought back to Great Britain. —
Professor E. B. Poulton exhibited two FjupUeina, captured in Fiji
by Professor Gustave Gilson, and presented by him to the Hope
Department. The species, which belonged to the different genera
Nipara and Deia(jena, bore the closest superficial resemblance to each
other, afi'ording an interesting example of MixUerian or Synaposematic
likeness. — Professor Poulton also exhibited several specimens of
Diliiia populi which had been exposed during the pupal stage to
the intense heat of July, 1900. lu consequence of this " forcing " the
moths emerged towards the end of that month, and were markedly
different in colour from the normal, being much paler in tint with less
distinct markings, and the red of the hind wings of a very different
shade. They were also smaller, but this effect may have followed
from the larvae having been brought up under artificial conditions in
the Oxford Museum. — The Rev. A. E. Eaton exhibited drawings illus-
trating the wing of Pawpterinus latipeimu, Etn., MS., a remarkable
dipterous fly of the family Psychodidas, from New Guinea, in the
collection of the Hungarian National Museum, Budapest. — Prof. L.
Comptou Miall, F.K.S., contributed a paper "On a New Cricket of
Aquatic Habits, found in Fiji by Professor Gustave Gilson." Mr. R.
McLachlan said this was not the first time an orthopteron of aquatic
habits had been noticed. Mr. Pascoe had brought back one such
insect from the Amazons, which leaped on the leaves of aquatic
plants, and there was a recent record of another species with kindred
habits being found in Java. Professor E. B. Poulton remarked that
Professor Miall was interested in insects which skate upon the water,
but there were also some Orthoptera which were aquatic in another
sense. Mr. Annandale had brought back from the Malay region an
aquatic insect of this order (a BLatta), which was far too heavy to
skim upon the surface. The President added that there were some
Coleoptera which, although non-aquatic, were so specialized as to be
able to use their limbs in a snnilar manner to water-beetles. — Dr.
T. A. Chapman, M.D., F.Z.S., communicated a paper on " Asymmetry
in the Males of Hemarine and other Sphinges." — Mr. E. Meyrick,
B.A., F.Z.S., communicated a paper on " Lepidoptera from the
Chatham Islands." — H. Rowland-Brown, Hon. Sec.
South London Entomological and Natural History Society. —
April 24:th, 1902.— Mr. F. Noad Clark, President, in the chair. — Mr.
C. R. L. Boxer, of Lee, was elected a member. — Mr. Harrison
exhibited a long series of Tmniocampa opima, bred from ova collected
at Wallesey, Cheshire. More than half the specimens were of an
extremely dark coloration, and very few of the type form. — Mr. Main,
numerous species he had collected in the New Forest at Easter. — Mr.
Kaye, a very fine series of Heliconius Undigii taken in British Guiana,
on the Rio Potaro ; and also specimens of the Hymenoptera Melittia
ceto and M. caudatum, both from South America. — Mr. R. Adkin, a
series of dark forms of Pdlnra monacha, bred from a New Forest
parent taken in 1901. — Mr. Moore, the Orthoptera Polyspilota striata
and Tenodera aridtfolia from Africa ; Hierodula vitiila and Creoboter
urbana, from Sylhet. — Mr. Colthrup, a var. of Abraxas grossulariata,
RECENT LITERATURE. 199
in which the black markings were extended, some coalescing into
bauds ; and a specimen of Cicada mnntana from the New Forest, found
close to the pupa-case from which it had just emerged. Rev. F. Perry,
a large number of insects from South Africa, including stages of the
migratory locust, a wasp which preys upon spiders, Hemiptera showing
mimicry, &c. — Mr. Edwards, several species of the Nymphaline genus
Prepona, and the various species and races of the Aciaviemnun group
of Papilio. — Mr. Turner, a specimen of the harlequin beetle, Acrusinus
loiKjimaniis, from Trinidad. — Mr. Sich read a paper on "The Lesser
British Lepidoptera," and exhibited a large number of species typical
of the various groups.
May 8it/t. — The President in the chair. — Messrs. Harrison and
Main exhibited a very varied series of Tmiioeampaincerta, from Delamere
Forest, Epping Forest, and Liverpool. — Mr. Moore, Papilio ptolychus,
male and female, from the Solomon Isles, and P. erectkus from New
Guinea. — Mr. Scourfield gave an address on "Lakes, and their
Scientific Investigation," with diagrams. — Hy. J. Turner [Hon. Rep.
Secretary).
RECENT LITERATURE.
Claude Fuller. "First Report of the Government Entomologist,
1899-1900." Natal Dep. Agric, 1901, pp. iv. and 150 ; twenty-
five plates and numerous text figures.
Our Colonial Governments have in general far from recognized
the pressing need for agriculturists of adequate entomological guidance,
and we welcome this first report of the recently established Entomo-
logist in Natal. The work is more in the nature of a general guide to
the principal insect pests of the country, with notes for their preven-
tion and destruction, than a special report, and is of a thoroughly
practical nature, filling up a distinct gap, as our previous knowledge
of African insect-pests was somewhat fragmentary. We hope to see
many of these reports from the pen of Mr. Fuller in the future.
G. W. K.
H. OsBORN and E. D. Ball. "A Review of the North American
Species of Athysanus (Jassidse)," 1902, Oiiio, Nat. ii. pp. 231-57,
plates 16 and 17 [also forming Ohio Univ. Bull. (6) 14. 7th
Contrib. from Dep. Zool. and Ent.] .
Recently (Entom., 1901, p. 336) we had occasion to notice the
useful work by the above authors on some obscure American Homo-
ptera of special interest to entomologists in this country, on account
of the close relation of the forms treated to their allies of the
European fauna.
In the present paper the difficult genus Athysanus is dealt with,
three new subgenera being separated from Burmeister's original
group. Twenty-six species (not including four doubtful) are now
accredited to North America, and of these, three are also European,
viz. A, striola (Fall.), A. obsoletics, Kirschbaum, and A. striatula (Fall).
G. W. K.
200 THE ENTOMOLOGIST.
Butterflies and Moths of Europe. By W. F. Kirby, P.L.S., F.E.S.
With fifty-four coloured plates. 4to. London, Paris, New
York, and Melbourne : Cassell & Co. 1902.
It is satisfactory to find that the British interest in European
Lepidoptera is large enough to induce Mr. Kirby to produce a revised
and greatly extended edition of his popular work on the subject.
Apart from the fact that much new matter, and some illustrations,
have been added to the text, new coloured plates have been specially
prepared for this re-issue. The plates in parts 1, 2, and 4, which we
have received, are exceedingly well executed, and far superior in every
way to those in the previous edition.
The arrangement and nomenclature of the first edition have not
been materially altered, and as a result the work will be found, as
regards these matters at least, to differ very little from most of the books
on European Lepidoptera published during the past fifty years or so.
Proceedings of the SoucIl Lo7idon Entomological and Natural History
Society. 1901. Pp. 76. With two plates. Pubhshed at the
Society's Rooms, Hibernia Chambers, London Bridge, S.E.
In addition to reports of the five field-meetings held during the
year, this volume contains two papers: one on "Fossil Insects," by
Mr. W. West, and the other by Mr. A. M. Montgomery, entitled "Notes
on Rearing Lepidoptera." We most heartily commend the latter to
the notice of all who are interested in the observation of Lepidoptera
in their early stages. The author seems exceptionally happy in
devising means of obtaining ova from butterflies as well as from
moths, and his methods of treating larvae, from the time of leaving
the egg until they attain full growth, are admirable. The paper is
illustrated by two plates.
From the Report of the Council we learn that the membership of
this firmly established Society is rather larger than in the previous
year, the exact number for the year being one hundred and seventy-
four. Judging from the nature of the exhibits, as set forth in the
" Abstract of Proceedings," the business transacted during the session
was thoroughly in toi h with the objects of the Society.
Transactions of the City "" London Entomological and Natural History
Society. Part XI. (1901). Pp. 73.' The Society's Rooms,
London Institution, Pinsbury Circus, E.C.
The "Reports of Meetings" aflbrd, as usual, interesting and
instructive reading. The nomenclature adopted is very decidedly up-
to-date, and in most cases the average student will no doubt experience
little difficulty in following it; without previous introduction, possibly
not a few may fail to recognize such old familiar friends as Colias ediisa
and Tmiiocampa stabitis under the combinations Eurymus croceus and
Graphiphora cerasi.
There are three papers dealing with collecting during holidays at
Hunstanton, Folkestone, and New Forest, as well as an important one
on the genus Cideria. The latter is by Mr. Louis B. Prout, who also
contributes a further instalment of the Lepidoptera of the London
District.
Entomologist, August, 1902.
Plate II.
THE ENTOMOLOGIST
Vol. XXXV.l AUGUST, 1902. [No. 471.
VISIT OF THE ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY OP LONDON
TO OXFORD.
(Plate II.)
The members of the Council and Fellows of the Entomological
Society, who had accepted Professor E. B. Poulton's kind in-
vitation to visit Oxford, assembled in the Hope Department of
Zoology in the Museum on Saturday, July 5th. After a pleasant
afternoon spent in inspecting the collections, now in process
of rearrangement, an adjournment was made to Jesus College,
where Professor Poulton entertained the following members of
the University and Fellows of the Society : the Vice-Ghancellor,
Mr. D. B. Monro, Provost of Oriel ; Mr. A. B. Poynton, Senior
Proctor ; Mr. A. J. Evans, Keeper of the Ashmolean Museum ;
Professor Dixey, Dr. David Sharp, Mr. E. McLachlan, Pro-
fessor Meldola, the Eev. F. D. Morice, Colonel Swinhoe, Mr.
A. J. Chitty, Mr. M. Jacoby, Mr. Hamilton Druce, Mr. H. St. J.
K. Donisthorpe, Mr. Guy Marshall, and Mr. H. Eowland-Brown.
"While of the uninvited but appropriate (!) guests who put in an
appearance was the rare Reduvius personatus, Linn., taken by
Professor Poulton on the college wall, crawling up toward the
electric light. On Sunday tea was served in one of the meadows
that border the Cherwell, after a pleasant pull on the river, now
in all its summer freshness, and the haunt of innumerable
Odonata, of which Ccdopteryx splendens and ALschna cyanea
were perhaps the commonest and most admired. Later in the
ENTOM. — AUGUST, 1902. B
202 THE ENTOMOLOGIST.
day Colonel Swinhoe and Professor Dixey invited a number
of Fellows to their high table in Wadham, in the beautiful
garden of which college the party ended what must certainly
be considered not the least successful of the many hospitalities
Professor Poulton and the entomological Fellows of the University
of Oxford have so kindly extended to the Council and Fellows of
the Entomological Society of London.
H. E-B.
ON CARNIVOEOUS LYC.ENID LARV^.
By E. Ernest Green, F.E.S.
(Government Entomologist of Ceylon.)
In the June number of the * Entomologist,' Mr. F. P. Dodd
describes an interesting larva of an Australian Lycaenid {Liphyra
brassolis, Westw.) from nests of an ant, CEcophtjlla sinaragdina.
Mr. Dodd gives reasons for believing that the larvse prey upon
the grubs of the ants ; but has failed to rear any by providing
them with that food.
That the larvae are really carnivorous seems to be proved by
the fact that they seized and attempted to eat some of the
grubs ; but they do not appear to have been satisfied with that
diet. Is it not possible that their proper food may be some
Coccid enclosed in the ant's nests ? In Ceylon, the arboreal
nests of this same ant almost invariably include colonies of
Coccidae, Aphidae, or Aleurodidae. We have here also a coccido-
phagous Lycaenid larva (of SjJalgis epius, Westw.). I have on
more than one occasion found them inside nests of another tree
ant, Cremastogaster dohrni, feeding upon ** mealy bugs" {Dacty-
lopius sp.) enclosed therein.
The larvae of another Ceylonese Lycaenid (Apknoous loJiita,
Horsf. = lazularia, Moore) frequent the nests of Cremastogaster
on Acacia and Grevillea trees, upon the foliage of which they
feed. These larvae carry a dorsal honey-gland near the posterior
extremity of the body, and are cultivated by the ants on that
account. They are herded in special shelters built by the ants,
are driven out at night to feed, and brought back to their shelters
each morning.
Peradeniya, Ceylon : June 20th, 1902.
203
DESCRIPTIONS OF SOME NEW SPECIES OF PHYTO-
PHAGOUS COLEOPTERA FROM THE ISLAND OF
MAURITIUS.
By Maktin Jacoby.
In the * Transactions ' of the Entomological Society of London
for 1898 I have already described several species from the above
locality, which were obtained by Mons. Alluaud, of Paris. I
have now received some other species from the same gentleman,
which, although closely aUied, seem again different, and of which
I give the descriptions here.
CCENOBIUS SULCICOLLIS, Sp. n.
Black, the labrum flavous ; thorax impunctate, deeply obliquely
sulcate at the sides ; elytra moderately deeply punctate-striate, black,
shining, with a transverse flavous spot at the middle of the disc.
Length, 3f mill.
Head black, nearly impunctate, the clypeus broad, with a few
punctures ; eyes extremely large, occupying the entire sides of the
head and nearly joined at the vertex, deeply notched ; antennae sub-
filiform, the lower four joints fulvous, the rest black, basal joint elon-
gate, second one short, third and fourth joints equal, the others
slightly thickened and shorter ; thorax transverse, narrowed anteriorly,
if viewed from above, the sides greatly deflexed, the lateral margins
rounded, anterior margin accompanied by a deep groove, the surface
entirely impunctate and shining, black, the sides with a deep oblique
groove at the middle, extending nearly to the middle of the disc, the
basal margin slightly produced at the middle and truncate at that
place ; scutellum subquadrate ; elytra short and parallel, rather deeply
punctate-striate, the punctures very fine near the apex, the interstices
flat and impunctate, those near the lateral margins convex, shoulders
rounded and prominent, the surface black and shining, with a small
transverse flavous spot at the middle of the disc ; below and the legs
black ; prosternum broader than long, the base concave.
The structural characters in regard to the antennae and the
thorax scarcely fit in any of the different genera of Crypto-
cephalidae, but the large and nearly joined eyes and the broad
prosternum are characters peculiar to Cosnobius ; the deep
thoracic groove in connection with the coloration will at once
distinguish the species.
Ehyparida bimaculicollis, sp. n.
Obscure testaceous or fulvous ; antennae (the basal joints excepted)
black ; thorax impunctate, with two black spots ; elytra strongly
punctate-striate, the interstices minutely wrinkled, the sides broadly
and the suture very narrowly black. Length, 5 mill.
Of oblong parallel shape ; the head impunctate, opaque, obscure
fulvous, with a deep central groove at the vertex ; clypeus separated
by another very deep transverse groove, its anterior margin concave,
the surface finely and sparingly punctured ; labrum fulvous ; antennsB
li 2
204 THE ENTOMOLOGIST.
slender, the lower three joints fulvous, the rest black, the second and
thml joints equal, each sliorter than the fourth ; thorax transverse,
the sides rounded, the anterior angles pointed, the basal margin pre-
ceded by a narrow but deep partly punctured groove, the surface im-
punctate, very minutely granulate, with a rather large black spot at
each side ; scutellum piceous ; elytra subcylindrical, strongly punctate-
striate, the punctures much finer towards the apex, the interstices here
and there finely wrinkled, the suture narrowly and the sides more
broadly black, this colour at the latter place abbreviated near the
apex ; below and the legs fulvous, the posterior femora with a small
tooth.
This species — the only one known at present from Mauritius
— resembles much in coloration many Australian forms of the
genus, but may be separated by the impunctate and maculate
thorax, and the markings of the elytra ; the latter are somewhat
variable, and probably sometimes either entirely absent or more
strongly marked. The structural characters are entirely those
of the genus Rhyparida.
Trichostola puncticollis, sp. n.
Black below, above greenish cupreous, clothed with white pubes-
cence ; the basal jomts of the antennae and the legs fulvous ; thorax
very strongly punctured ; elytra very closely and equally strongly
punctate. Length, 2 mill.
Head metallic greenish, strongly but sparingly punctured, clothed
with single long white hairs ; labrum fulvous ; antennse extending
nearly to the end of the elytra, black, the lower three or four joints
fulvous, third and fourth joints rather slender, equal, the following
joints slightly thickened ; thorax about twice as broad as long, the
lateral margins rounded, the surface very closely and deeply punctured,
cupreous, sparingly pubescent ; elytra with a feeble transverse de-
pression below the base, punctured like the thorax, the punctuation
arranged in very close rows, the interstices scarcely defined, with a
few fine punctures, partly transversely wrinkled and clothed with
white hairs ; below black, legs fulvous.
I know of no other species of this genus having an equally
strongly punctured thorax. T. rugulosa, Fairm., is described
with a pale fulvous pubescence, and with a finely rugose thorax
and elytra ; the antennae are also described as fulvous.
Trichostola thoracica, sp. n.
Below black ; antennae and legs fulvous, above obscure cupreous ;
thorax transverse, finely rugosely punctured, clothed with grey pubes-
cence ; elytra finely punctate-stnate, the interstices finely wrinkled
and pubescent. Length, 3 mill.
Head finely rugose and pubescent, dark cupreous, opaque ; antennse
fulvous, the last joint darker, third joint distinctly shorter than the
fourth ; thorax more than twice as broad as long, of equal width, the
sides scarcely deflexed, the lateral margins rounded, the surface sculp-
tured like the head, and clothed with grey pubescence ; elytra with a
NEW SPECIES OF PHYTOPHAGOUS COLEOPTERA. 205
slight transverse depression below the base, rather finely punctate-
striate, more distinctly so at the sides ; the interstices likewise finely
punctured, slightly wrinkled and pubescent ; legs fulvous.
The general coloration of this species is opaque cupreous,
and the thorax is less narrowed anteriorly than is generally the
case ; the elytral punctured stria are not so well defined as in
most of its allies, owing to the somewhat wrinkled interstices.
Trichostola fasciatipbnnis, sp. n.
Pale fulvous or ferrugineous, closely pubescent ; thorax clothed
with yellow pubescence ; elytra strongly punctate-striate and pubes-
cent, pale fulvous, the suture and a short discoidal stripe at the disc
fuscous. Length, 2 mill.
Head smooth, not perceptibly punctured, the lower portion and the
palpi flavous ; antennas fulvous, the terminal five or six joints fuscous,
thickened ; thorax more than twice as broad as long, the sides feebly
rounded, slightly narrowed anteriorly, the basal margin sinuate at
each side, surface sculptured and pubescent like the head ; scutellum
similarly clothed with yellow hairs ; elytra with regular and rather
closely placed rows of deep punctures, the interstices pubescent, ful-
vous, the suture narrowly fuscous, the middle of the disc with a short
more or less distinct fuscous stripe, not extending to the base or
apex ; below and the legs coloured like the upper surface.
The general coloration of this species differs from any of its
allies, but the elytral stripe is sometimes obsolete or absent.
Trichostola femoralis, sp. n.
Below obscure fulvous ; the terminal joints of the antennae and the
breast fuscous ; above obscure aeneous, clothed with fulvous hairs ;
thorax extremely finely, elytra more distinctly punctured in indistinct
rows, the interstices finely and sparingly punctate ; legs fulvous, the
apex of the femora and tibins fuscous. Length, 5 mill.
Of comparatively large size ; the head obsoletely punctured and
furnished with some fulvous hairs, the anterior margin of the clypeus
and the labrum fulvous ; antennae extending to about the middle of
the elytra, the lower four or five joints fulvous, the others black, the
third and following two joints slender and equal, the rest slightly
thickened, shorter ; thorax more than twice as broad as long, slightly
narrowed anteriorly, the sidesn-ounded, the punctuation very fine and
close, the interstices furnished with fulvous pubescence, the posterior
margin straight at the sides ; scutellum pubescent ; elytra with a
feeble depression below the base, punctured in rows, rather difficult to
distinguish on account of the close and but little less strongly punctured
interstices, the latter also clothed with longish fulvous hairs ; abdomen
and legs fulvous, the femora with a fuscous spot or patch near the
apex ; the tibiae more or less similarly coloured at the base.
One of the largest species of the genus, of obscure aeneous or
cupreous coloration ; the punctuation of the thorax and the
elytra close and fine ; the legs marked with fuscous.
206 - THE ENTOMOLOGIST.
ON SOME NEW GENERA AND SPECIES OF HYMENO-
PTERA (ICHNEUMONID^, CHRYSIDID^, FOSSORES,
AND APID^).
By p. Cameron.
(Continued from p. 183.)
CHRYSIDID^.
Chrysis (Tetrachrysis) lepcha, sp. nov.
Viridis, supra late cferuleo ; antennis tarsisque nigris ; alls fusco-
violaceis. Long. 14 mm. ? .
Hah. Khasia (coll. Rothney).
Antennffi black ; the basal three joints bluish above ; the base of
the scape broadly green ; the flagellum, except at the base, covered
Virith a pale down. Head green, tinged with blue ; the front brassy in
the middle ; the ocellar region purple ; the apex of the clypeus and
the mandibles, except at the base, black. The vertex coarsely and
deeply punctured, the punctures larger and deeper at the sides near
the eyes ; the front closely punctured in the middle ; the sides much
more strongly punctured ; the eyes are bordered by a distinctly defined
row of punctures ; in the centre of the front above is a shallow de-
pression ; the orbits behind are bordered by a sharp distinct keel.
Thorax above dark green ; the base and a transverse band on the pro-
notum, and the centre of the meso- and metanotum, broadly purple ;
the pronotum coarsely and closely rugosely punctured, except a smooth
impunctate space in the centre at the base, this space being broadest
behind ; the mesonotum and the scutellum have the punctures larger
and deeper, especially in the middle ; the middle of the metanotum is
punctured like the scutellum, its sides near the wings depressed ; the
projecting lateral angles are coarsely punctured at the base ; the outer
sides at the apex have two slight depressions. The upper part of the
propleurffi coarsely punctured ; the middle is depressed, and bears a
few irregular strise ; below this depression is a deeper narrower longi-
tudinal one ; mesopleurse deeply and largely punctured, the punctures
running into reticulations. Mesosternum brassy, closely punctured
behind ; the sides and middle with stronger punctures. The meta-
pleurffi are irregularly longitudinally striated, the striae being stronger
and more widely separated at the base. Legs green, largely mixed
with blue ; the tarsi black. "Wings fuscous, paler towards the apex ;
the nervures deep black. The basal segment of the abdomen is bluish
green ; the sides with a distinct brassy tinge ; the base and sides are
strongly punctured ; the centre has the punctures more widely sepa-
rated and smaller ; between the larger punctures are smaller ones.
The second segment is closely punctured, the punctuation on the sides
being closer and stronger than on the middle, and they have a brassy
tint ; the third segment is finely and sparsely punctured at the base,
the rest of it much more strongly and closely punctured ; the apical
depression is wide and deep ; the foveas are also deep ; the four teeth
are large ; the outer broader than the inner, and somewhat triangular.
SOME NEW GENERA AND SPECIES OF HYMENOPTERA. 207
This is considerably larger than any of the other species of
this section.
MUTILLID^.
MUTILLA CASIPHIA, Sp. nOV.
Black ; the basal three segments of the abdomen red ; the scutellum
with a narrow deep furrow down the centre ; the area on the median
segment reaches to the apes of the truncation, and becomes gradually
narrowed ; wings violaceous, paler at the base. $ . Long. 18 mm.
Hah. Borneo.
Antennae short, the flagellum opaque ; the third joint slightly
longer than the fourth, which is of the length of the fifth. Head nar-
rower than the thorax, densely covered with long griseous hair ; on the
cheeks the hair is longer, denser, and bright silvery in tint. Front
and vertex coarsely rugosely punctured ; the face and clypeus smooth
and shining ; on the centre, above the clypeus, is a conical projection,
the narrow part being above ; the clypeus is depressed below it, and
foveate on either side of its apex. Mandibles broad ; the apical tooth
broad, broadly rounded at the apex, the subapical tooth transverse ; at
the base, behind the middle, is a large blunt tooth, which projects
downwards ; the base is thickly covered with grey pile, and with
silvery hair ; the palpi are black. Pro- and mesothorax closely and
strongly punctured ; the mesopleurs and sternum thickly covered
with silvery pubescence ; the mesonotum thickly with longisb blackish
hair ; the scutellum and post-scutellum with long black hair ; there
are two furrows on the apical two-thirds of the mesonotum, a smooth
flat keel between them, and a shorter one on either side. Scutellum
roundly convex, rugosely punctured ; there is a furrow in the centre
of the apical two-thirds, bordered by fiat smooth keels, and there is a
flat smooth keel at its base. Median segment coarsely and regularly
reticulated ; there is a central area which reaches to the top of the
truncation ; it is wide at the base, and becomes gradually narrowed to
the apex, which is not quite one-half the width of the base. Propleurfe
closely rugosely punctured, the apex smooth, with some stout stride
behind. Legs thickly covered with white hair ; the spurs pale. Wings
deep fusco-violaceous, paler at the base ; the pale space on the hinder
wings more extended than on the front ; the third cubital cellule at
the top and bottom is distinctly shorter than the second ; the apex of
the radius is obliquely bent upwards, is straight, and at a different
angle from the lower part ; the first transverse cubital uervure is
rounded, and has an oblique slope ; the second is not oblique, and has
a broad rounded curve ; the third is sharply angled in the middle ;
both the recurrent nervures are received shortly, but distinctly beyond
the middle. The apical half of the first and the whole of the second
and third segments are rufous ; the basal five segments are covered
with white, the apical more thickly with longer black hair ; the ventral
keel is stout, does not extend beyond the middle, and is roundly but
not deeply curved below. The pygidium has an elongated bare space,
narrowed at the top and bottom in the centre ; the sides on the basal
two-thirds are covered with long black hair ; the apex is sparsely but
not strongly punctured ; the hypopygium is flat, covered with long
black hair, and not keeled.
208
THE ENTOMOLOGIST.
MUTILLA AESYCA, Sp. nOV.
Black ; the head and thorax red ; the front femora and the basal
three-fourths of the four posterior rufous ; the lower part of the petiole
rufous ; a quadrate spot on the centre of the petiole, a broad band on
the apex of the third segment, widest in the middle, the apex of the
penultimate, and the sides of the last segment covered with silvery
pubescence. ? . Long. 11 mm.
Hab. Borneo.
Antennffi entn-ely black ; the third joint more than double the
length of the fourth ; the fourth and fifth equal in length. Front and
vertex rugosely punctured, and sparsely covered with longish black
hair ; the front indistinctly keeled down the centre. Antennal tubercles
dark rufous, smooth. Mandibles black, rufous at the apex ; their base
punctured ; their apical tooth long, rounded at the apex ; the hair on
their base long and pale fulvous. The head is broader than long, but is
largely developed behind the eyes ; the occiput is roundly incised, not
transverse or convex. Thorax twice longer than broad; the base and
apex almost transverse, with their sides rounded ; the outer edge of
the mesonotum is irregular ; the sides of the apex above bear four
stout teeth. The top of the median segment has a rounded slope ; it
is sparsely punctured, and is keeled down the centre. Pleurse smooth
and shining ; the upper part projects. Legs black ; the front femora
entirely, and the four posterior, except at the apex, rufous ; they are
covered with long white hair ; the tibial spines apparently are few in
number, and are black ; the spurs are pale ; the tarsal spines are
rufous ; their basal joints are thickly covered with pale pubescence.
The abdomen deep black ; there is a square mark of silvery pubescence
on apex of the petiole, in the middle there is a broad band of similar
pubescence, broadest in the middle, on the apex of the second segment ;
a broader one on the penultimate, and the sides of the pygidium are
thickly covered with silvery pubescence ; the last segment is punctured
at the base ; the apical half is smooth, shining, and piceous. The
keel on the basal ventral segment does not project much, and is
rounded at the base and apex ; the second segment is smooth and de-
pressed on the basal half, and is there indistinctly keeled in the middle ;
the epipygium is closely punctured, and is distinctly bordered laterally.
On the side of the second segment is an elongated patch of dark rufous
pubescence.
(To be continued.)
A LIST OF TOETRICES TAKEN IN SOUTH ESSEX
BETWEEN 1885 AND 1901.
By a. Thurnall.
(Concluded from p. 193.)
Catojytria wimmerana, Wilk. — Strictly confined to the salt marshes
along the Thames, and on the coast. Wakering, near Shoeburyness,
Thames Haven, Fobbing, and Benfleet. Larva in September and
October spun up in the tops of Artemisia maritima.
TOETRICES TAKEN IN SOUTH ESSEX. 209
C. cana, Haw. — Very common amongst thistles, in the heads of
which the larva may be found in abundance in September. From
one of several larvfe taken near Clacton in September, 1888, I bred a
female in 1890. This is the only instance known to me of this species
taking two seasons to arrive at the perfect state.
C. scopoliana, Haw. — Fairly common amongst Centaurea nigra, in
the heads of which the larva feeds. Much more commonly met with
some seasons than others. Its near sd\y , fulvana , St., I have only met
with in the north of the county, strictly confined to Centaurea scabiosa.
C. cacimaculana , Hb. — Apparently rare and local in the county. I
once took a pair amongst Centaurea nigra, &c., on a piece of chalky
waste ground near Grays, but unfortunately lost the boxes, so that I
am still without any Essex examples 1
C. (Buiulana, Schl. — Strictly confined to places where its food-
plant, golden-rod, grows. I have found the larva very sparingly
between Brentwood and Ingatestone. Very much more abundant on
the Kentish side of the Thames, from whence I have bred it freely.
C. tripoliana, Barr. — I have found this variable species wherever
Aster tripolium grows in the " saltings." The larva may be found
full-fed early in October in the seed-heads. Not difficult to breed if
kept fully exposed to all weathers.
C. expallidana, Haw. — Very local ; I have only met with it in a
rough field not far from Upminster early in July,
G. citrann, Hb. — Mr. Machin used to get this species sparingly on
the sloping banks between Southend and Leigh, but I fear it is not
likely to be met with there now. Still occurs, I believe, on Canvey
Island. Larva feeds in flower heads of Achillea miUefolium.
Trijcheris auraiia, Fb. — Local ; I have netted a few in rough fields
near Hadleigh, but I am told that it occurs in many places.
Lobesia permixtana, Hiib. — Very abundant in Epping Forest,
Brentwood district, and many other places, generally amongst oak. I
have never met with the larva to my knowledge, but it has been bred
from blackthorn and birch. It is almost sure to be found on oak as
well some day.
Eupcecilia nana, Haw. — Common amongst birch shrubs generally.
I once bred two specimens from a dead thistle stem, much to my
surprise, until I came to recollect that the stem was picked (in Wan-
stead Park) from beneath a birch tree.
E. dubitana, Hb. — Eather local. Wanstead, Upminster, Waltham
Abbey, Danbury, Wakering, &c. I have bred it from golden rod,
Hieracium tridentatum and umbellatuni, and Senecio jacobmt. Feeds on
the young seeds in September.
E. atricapitana, St. — Local and uncommon in South Essex. I
liave bred it once or twice from dead stems of Senecio from near
Thames Haven, and the second brood from the green stems of the
same plant from the railway bank near Harold Wood.
E. maculosana, Haw. — Not uncommon in plantations and woods
where its food-plant, Scilla nutans, grows. The larva feeds on the
green seeds, in July, and then leaves to spin- up amongst rubbish.
Very quick on the wing when flying in the sunshine over a bed of its
food-plant. I have met with it in the woods round Warley more
abundantly than elsewhere.
210 THE ENTOMOLOGIST.
E. hybiidellana, Hb. — Local and scarce ; more abundant in the
larva state. I have taken a very few not far from Pitsea, and found
the little pinkish larva in abundance, feeding in the seed-heads of
Helmmthia echioides, but I found it very difficult to breed.
E. anr/ustana, Hb. — The small pale form sometimes swarming in
early August over Calluna vulgaris at Loughton, Warley, Tiptree, &c.
The much more handsome and earlier form (which feeds upon the
seed of Plantago lanceolata, and, I believe, other plants) is much less
common. Thames Haven, railway banks near Komford, also rough
fields near Upminster. I was at one time inclined to think we had
two species mixed up here.
E. vectisana, Westw. — Very common in the salt marshes amongst
Triglochin maridmum, its food-plant. Mr. Machin met with a specimen
on Hackney Marshes, where it had probably fed on the allied T. ixilustre.
E. afjinitana, Dougl. — Common in every salting where Aster tri-
poliiim grows. I have found the pupa in the spring in the upper part
of the previous season's flower-stalks.
E. ndana, Gn. — Seldom seen on the wing, but the larva may be
found in most places in the stems of Alisma plantago, pupating therein.
The insects last over a considerable time ; this summer, for instance,
I bred one on June 11th, and the next specimen came out on July 12th !
E. notidana, Zell. — I have never bred this insect or met with the
imago in Essex ; but in 1886 I found, near Brentwood, in the early
autumn, several larvae in stems of Mentha aquatica, which were no
doubt this species, but I failed to rear any of them.
E. rupicola, Curt. — Scarce and local. I have found the larva on
the banks of the Chelmer, near Chelmsford, in the old prostrate stems
of Eupatorium cannahinum, but this plant is by no means common in
the districts where I have collected.
E. rnseana, Haw. — May generally, but not always, be found in the
larval state in heads of the common teazel. Harold Wood, Benfleet,
Pitsea, and Cauvey Island. From the last named locality I bred the
largest and most beautifully coloured specimens I have seen.
E. ciliella, Hb. — Only met with at Ingatestone, where a few larvae
were found feeding in the seeds of the common cowslip. Primula veris.
E. iinplicitana, H. S. — Not rare ; may be found among such plants
as Anthemis cotula, Matricaria inodora and chamomilla, in the seed of
which tlie larva feeds, often, but not always, pupating in the stems.
I have also bred it freely from flowers or seeds of golden rod from Kent.
E. erigerana, Wlsm. — Very local in South Essex. I have only met
with it once on a piece of waste ground near Harold Wood. I found
it very abundantly near here (Croydon), and also bred it from flower-
heads of Erigeron acre a few weeks ago (August, 1901).
Xanthosetia zoegana, L. — Not common, but very widely distributed.
I have taken the very striking xsn-.ferriigana, Haw., near Stratford, on
Ley ton Marshes.
X. hamana, L. — Very common and variable amongst the various
species of thistle in every locality I have worked. The larva is said
to feed on thistles, but I have never met with it.
Chrosis tesserana, Tr. — Common on rough, dry, waste grounds, and
in great variety, some of which are very beautiful, others nearly or
quite unicolorous. I once bred nearly forty from larvae obtained the
TORTBICES TAKEN IN SOUTH ESSEX. 211
previous autumn feeding on roots of Relminthia echioides, and a few on
Picris, on the railway bank near Stanford-le-Hope.
Argyrolepia haxmimmiana, Schiff. — Scarce and local in damp places
amongst Scabiosa succisa, in the roots of which plant it is believed to
feed. Near Brentwood, and beside the road leading from the ' Eobin
Hood ' to High Beech, Loughton.
A. sub-banmanniana, Wilk. — Another scarce and local species. I
have only met with it in a rough place on the chalk near Purfleet.
I am inclined to think that Scabiosa columbaria roots will be found to
be the food of the larva.
A. zephyrana, Tr. — Not uncommonly found where Dauciis carota
grows ; in the root and lower part of the stem the larva may be found
through the winter. Like so many other Tortrices, it is partial to
railway banks.
A. maritimana, Gn. — Entirely confined to those places on the
coast where Eryncjium maritimnm grows. The larva may be found in
the winter far down in the sand in the root of this somewhat local
plant. I have bred a good number in past years from roots dug up in
the neighbourhood of Clacton, but I expect the plant is scarce there now.
A. badimia, Hb. — Generally common amongst burdock, in the seeds
(not the stems) of which the larva feeds, together with Parasia lapella,
leaving when full-fed and pupating amongst rubbish on the ground.
A. cnicana, Dbl. — Mr. Machin used to take this amongst thistles,
&c., in boggy places in Epping Forest. I have not met with it.
A. ceneana, Haw. — This, perhaps the most beautiful of all our
Tortrices, although local, is by no means rare in Essex. I have met
with it (usually the larva) on the railway banks near Eomford, Harold
Wood, Stanford-le-Hope to Thames Haven, also at Fobbing, Benfleet,
and near Upminster. The larva may be found in the autumn and
winter in the roots of Senecio jacobaa, in which it pupates.
Conchylis dipoltdla, Hb. — Another beautiful but far more local
insect. Mr. Machin used to find the larva in seed-heads of Achillea
millefolium near Southend ; I have not met with it in any stage.
C. francillonana, Fb. — Locally common amongst its food-plant,
Daitcus carota. Harold Wood, Komford, and commonly near Upmin-
ster and Benfleet.
C. dilucidana, St. — More commonly found in the larva state in dead
stems of Pastinaca satira wherever it grows abundantly.
C. smeathmanniana, Fb. — Somewhat local among A. millefolium and
Anthemis cotula on waste ground. Very common at Temple Mihs, near
Stratford, Eomford, Blackmore, East Horndon, &c. I have found it
difiicult to breed.
C. stramineana, Haw. — Only met with at Harold Wood and near
Pitsea, always amongst Centanrea nigra, in the heads of which the
larva feeds.
Aphelia osseana, Scop. — Common as this curious species is in many
places, I have only met with it on one occasion in South Essex, on a
rough, dry slope near Upminster.
Tortricodes hyemana, Hb. — In great abundance in March in oak
woods, and varying considerably ; some of the specimens are rather
pretty, but the majority of them plain. The female is less often met
with ; I once got a good many by searching the trunks of the oaks
after dark.
212 THE ENTOMOLOGIST.
DESCRIPTIONS OF NEW SPECIES OF HETEROCERA
FROM THE TRANSVAAL.
By W. L. Distant.
The following seven species have recently been added to my
collection from various sources, and will be eventually figured in
' Insecta Transvaaliensia,' now in course of publication : —
Fam. NocTuiD^.
TiMORA TRANSVAALICA, Sp. n.
Head pale brownish, pronotum greyish-pink, abdomen dull ochra-
ceous, sternum greyish-white. Anterior wings very pale carmine or
pinky red, with a greyish ray extending from base to about middle of
wing, above this a similar but longer ray margining lower area of cell
and extending to apical margin, other narrower and more obscure
greyish rays between the nervures ; posterior wings creamy-white ;
anterior wings beneath much paler than above. Exp. wings 34 millim.
Hah. Transvaal; Johannesburg (J. Hyde).
AUDEA SUBLIGATA, Sp. n.
Head, pronotum, and legs piceous ; abdomen, sternum, femora
above, and spots to tarsi ochraceous ; disk, apex, and lateral margins
of abdomen suffused with fuscous. Anterior wings above piceous ;
posterior wings somewhat obscure greyish, the basal area tinged with
pale ochraceous, the veins mostly fuscous, and with a narrow marginal
piceous fascia, the fringe greyish. Wings beneath greyish ; anterior
wings with the costal margin, subapical and apical fasciae, and outer
marginal spots piceous, cellular' area fuscous ; posterior wings with
the posterior apical margin and a costal spot piceous. Exp. wings
88 millim.
Hah. Transvaal ; Lydenburg district (Pret. Mus. and Coll.
Dist.).
Chalciope PRETORIA, sp. n.
Head pale ochraceous, its basal area and antennfe darker ; pro-
notum with the anterior area ochraceous-brown posteriorly defined by
a dark transverse castaneous line between the costal angles of the
wings, beyond this the colour is pale luteous ; abdomen dark ochra-
ceous ; sternum and legs pale luteous. Anterior wings pale ochraceous,
sparingly speckled with small brown points ; two small discal brown
spots near base, an oblique costal spot near centre of cell, a reniform
discal spot at end of cell preceded by a short costal stripe, followed by
a curved series of minute spots crossing wing, the costal largest, all
brown, outer marginal area very pale purplish brown, inwardly defined
by a white line margined with brown and outwardly by three narrow
contiguous whitish lines; posterior wings pale greyish, outer area
tinged with pale ochraceous, the discal veins marked with a short
fuscous streak. Exp. wings 52 millim.
Habi Transvaal ; Pretoria.
Allied to C. carnieola, Hamps.
NEW SPECIES OF HETEROCERA FROM THE TRANSVAAL. 213
Fam. NoTODONTiD^.
RiGEMA AURIFODIN^, Sp. D.
Head andpronotumgolden-yeliow; abdomen brownish-ocbraceous,
the base and apex greyisbly pilose, and with a lateral marginal black
fascia on each side ; sternum and legs ochraceous, with yellow pilosity ;
tarsi spotted with blaclc ; autennre pale ochraceous. Anterior wings
stramineous, with a broad central longitudinal fascia, a shorter and
narrower fascia from end of cell, and a very short subapical marginal
streak, pale brownish-ocbraceous with blackish speckles ; posterior
wings greyish-white ; anterior wings beneath much paler than above.
Exp. wings 37-40 millim.
Hah. Transvaal; Johannesburg (J. Hyde). Pretoria (Pret.
Mus.).
Cerura swierstr^, sp, n.
Head, pronotum, and body beneath hoary-white ; a transverse
ochraceous fascia preceded by a black suffusion between lateral pro-
notal angles ; a spot at base of head, a transverse basal fascia to
pronotum, abdomen above, head beneath, tibial spots, and the tarsi
black ; base and apex of abdomen above hoary-white ; antennae with
the pectination fuscous. Wings hoary-white ; anterior wings with
costal and outer marginal spots and a speckled suffusion on outer
basal area, black ; posterior wings with a central subcostal spot and
minute outer marginal spots as on anterior wings, black. Exp. wings
32 millim.
Hah. Transvaal; Pretoria (Swierstra — Pret. Mus. and Coll.
Dist.).
Fam. CossiD^.
DuoMiTus squameus, sp. n.
Body above and beneath, with legs, greyish-brown ; pronotum
thickly irrorated with pale greyish scales; head and anterior margin
of pronotum dark purplish ; pectination of the antennas dull ochrace-
ous. Anterior wings brownish, thickly irrorated with grey scales ; a
purplish-brown patch occupying costal area for about one-third from
base, where it is also about one-third of breadth of wing, a similarly
coloured costal spot nearly above apex of cell ; posterior wings greyish-
brown ; wings beneath somewhat uniformly greyish-brown. Exp.
wings 58 millim.
Hah. Transvaal ; Pretoria.
AZYGOPHLEPS leopardina, sp. n.
Head and pronotum pale yellowish-white; pronotum with a trans-
verse fascia on anterior collar, two transverse series of four spots in
each across disk, and four spots on posterior area — two laterally on
each side — black ; antennae greyish-white, speckled with black, their
bases broadly black ; body and legs pale greyish-brown, tibi» and tarsi
more or less annulated with black. Anterior wings cretaceous-white,
somewhat thickly and irregularly black spotted, on apical third the
spots transversely crossing wing, before this, or on basal two-thirds,
214 THE ENTOMOLOGIST.
the spots in more longitudinal series; posterior wings cretaceous, with
obscure dark spots placed transversely on their outer areas ; the veins
of both wings more or less ochraceous ; wings beneath as above, but
anterior wings with the spots a little paler. Exp. wings 60 millim.
Hob. Transvaal ; Pretoria.
ON THE MORPHOLOGY AND CLASSIFICATION OF THE
AUCHENORRHYNCHOUS HOMOPTERA.
By Dr. H. J. Hansen.
(Continued from vol. xxxiv. p. 154.)
D. Spieacles and Abdomen.*
As regards the number of spiracles, I do not know ot any
opinions founded upon research other than L. Dufour's erroneous
statement (in 1833) for the number in Cicada (see above),! and
WiTLACZiL (in 1885) for TyjMocijha. In the above cited work,
ScHioDTE remarks (p. 255): "EhynchotaHeteroptera have without
exception ten pairs of spiracles, whose distribution is exactly as I
pointed out long ago in. the Coleoptera." That is to say, the
first pair lie between the pro- and meso-sternum ; the second pair
between the meso- and meta-sternum; the third pair "on the
insect's back concealed by the wings, between the metanotum
and the first tergite of the abdomen " (p. 257) ; the fourth to
tenth pairs " lie on the ventral part of the pleural-fold of the
abdomen. There are thus seven pairs of ventral abdominal
spiracles." In the types of all four families of tlie Atichenorrhynclia
I have likewise found ten pairs of spiracles. In the location of the
eight pairs of abdominal spiracles, one finds, moreover, features
affording exquisite family characters, and some of these deviate
from the rule formulated by Schiodte as being applicable to the
Heteroptera. In discussing the abdominal spiracles it will be at
the same time necessary to deal with some points in the structure
of the abdomen, and each of the families must be treated
separately as regards this ; while, on the other hand, the thoracic
spiracles appear not to offer special differences in the several
families, and the latter can therefore be considered together.
a. Thoracic Spiracles.
1. Spiracles between the pro- and meso-thorax lie in the soft
articulating membrane between these two sclerites, almost under
* A somewhat different account has been given of the spiracles by
Verhoeff (1894, Verh. Naturh. Vereins Eheinlands, vol. 1. pp. 307-74 ;
abstract in 1893, Entom. Nachr. xix. pp. 369-80), but Handlirsch has recently
fully confirmed Hansen's account (1899, Verh. zool. botan. Gesellsch. Wien.
xlix. pp. 449-510 ; see also ' Entomologist,' 1900, p. 20).— G. W. K.
f This refers to the Hihtorical resume, not translated. — G. W. K.
THE AUCHENORRHYNCHOUS HOMOPTERA. 215
the root of the fore wings, either on the lateral margin of the
body (Cicada), or a little under the same {Aphrophora) . They
are hidden by the flattened-out, broad, prothoracic lateral mar-
gin, and can be seen very easily when this is cut away. They
are almost perpendicular {Cicada), or inclined postero-ventrally
(Aphrophora) ; they are always conspicuous, occasionally very
large (Tettigonia, Aphrophora) .
2. Spiracles between meso- and meta-iliorax lie concealed under
the articulation of the hind wings, a little from the lateral mar-
gins on the ventral surface. They are smaller than {Aphrophora),
of equal size with {Cicada), or almost larger than {Fulgora), the
'first pair. In, for example, Fulgora they are externally visible
without preparation ; in the Stridulantia they are best viewed in
profile, as they are more or less covered by a posteriorly-directed
flap arising from the posterior margin of the mesothorax ; in the
Jassidse and Cercopidse they are covered by a similar plate-
shaped projection, and lie so completely hidden that they are
not easy to discover.
b. Abdomen and its Spiracles.
1. Strididantia. — The tergite of the first segment of the
abdomen is well developed, especially about the middle, but
much shorter than the following segments ; the sternite is also
well chitinized, especially in the male more strongly and pecu-
liarly. The second segment is solid throughout, without any
trace of membrane between the tergite and the sternite ; dorsally
it is quite as long as the following segments. Each of the third
to seventh segments is formed out of a sternite, which is far from
reaching the lateral margin of the body, and of a tergite, which
is extended to that lateral margin ; between the lateral margins
of the tergite and the sternite there is found a somewhat broad
band, which, according to the explanation here adopted, is taken
to be the Pleuron. This consists of two parts, viz. — externally,
a conspicuous "chitinous" plate, which (except in Cystosoma,
and partly in individuals of other forms with somewhat swollen
abdomen) is separated from the tergite by a very narrow, thin, or
somewhat thin marginal membrane ; and, interiorly, by a (except
in Cystosoma) distinct, narrow, thin membrane between the plate
and the sternite.* The tergite of the eighth abdominal segment
is coalesced with the pleural chitinous plate, whilst the sternite
is entirely modified as a genital segment. (The following seg-
ments are not considered either in this or in the following
families ; it will only be stated that one finds in both sexes of
* The location of the spiracles in the third segment in, for example,
Tettigonia viridis suggests the reckoning of the plate as part of the Pleuron,
not as a ventral part of the tergite ; the structure in Cercopidae and Jassidse
suggests the consideration of the skin between the plate and the tergite, not
as a suture, but as a part of the Pleuron.
216 THE ENTOMOLOGIST.
Cicada, posterior to the eight s'piracle-hearing abdominal segments ^
three distinct segments in addition to the " anal flap" (= telson),
and that the ninth and tenth abdominal segments are, in the
male, extremely modified ; whilst in the female only the ninth
is very strongly modified, the tenth being small and only slightly
altered.)
The first pair of abdominal spiracles lies on the ventral side of
the body close to the lateral margins in a depression at the base
of the abdomen, surrounded by solid chitin (a part of the meta-
sternum), which, particularly in the male, is very thick, and of
a considerable breadth ; they are transverse like the thoracic
spiracles, but somewhat shorter than these. In most females'
they are generally not diificult to see when the abdomen is bent
a little upwards, but in some females, and in most males, they
are covered by the so-called "Opercula." The seven remaining
pairs of spiracles are considerably smaller than the first pair,
and of different structure ; they are entirely open, loith an oval or
almost circular orifice, the Peritreme being a solid ring, which is
also furnished with a great number of hairs directed towards the
centre of the spiracle. The locking-mechanism lies a little behind
the Peritreme. The first of them (thus the second pair of abdo-
minal spiracles) is not altogether easy to discover. Tliey lie like
the first pair on the under side of the abdomen a little from the
lateral margin close to the front margin of the second abdominal
segment, but the chitin of this segment is inclined inwards
(downwards seen from below) in such a manner that a transverse
furrow arises, so that the spiracles actually lie near the bottom
of the outer angle of this furrow, looking forwards and towards
the insect's middle plane. In the female one can see them with-
out preparation, but in the male they are often concealed by the
"Opercula." Each of the third to eighth abdominal spiracles
lies in the sternite itself a little behind its front margin, and
close to the Pleuron.
2. Cercojjidcs. — The first tergite extends right to the lateral
margins, where it is moderately long,* but not strongly chitinized;
towards the median line it shortens strongly, or even disappears
as a solid formation ; the sternite is short, well chitinized at the
middle, and terminates far from the lateral margins. The second
tergite is somewhat long, well chitinized, and extends right out
to the side margins ; the sternite is shorter medianly than the
tergite, and is still shorter towards the lateral margins ; it extends
right out to this, and almost to the apical margin of the tergite
-■= In the original the word is " broad," but Dr. Hansen now accords with
me that the words " broad," " narrow," " long," " short " should refer solely
to the situation of the margin in question with regard to the longitudinal
axis of the insect. This paper therefore is not a literal translation of the
original in these respects, but represents Dr. Hansen's present views. —
G. W. K.
THE AUCHENORRHYNCHOUS HOMOPTERA. 217
(the sternites of these two segments are not visible without pre-
paration, and the posterior coxae should preferably be cut away,
as they project forwards over them, and partly cover them). The
third to eighth segments are formed essentially like those in the
Strididantia. Only the inner part of the Pleuron is always very
distinctly developed, but not, however, particularly broad ; it is
now and then almost entirely membranous, but occasionally con-
tains chitinous portions. In Ajjhrophora alni there are thus
found in the membranous part of the Pleuron of the third to
fifth segments two distinct narrow chitinous plates (an anterior
and a posterior) in each segment.
The first pair of spiracles lies inside the lateral margins on
the lower side of the body as far forward as possible towards the
posterior margin of the metasternum, and on account of the shape
of this plate, the projection of the coxa and the aperture of the
spiracle being rather feebly defined, the spiracle is difficult to
perceive. The second pair of spiracles lies on the lateral margins
in a small chitinous piece, which projects a little forward and
downward from the lateral angles of the second sternite of the
abdomen, and, indeed, may appear to correspond with the large
outer pleural chitin-plate in the following segments. The third
to eighth pairs lie on the under side in the inner part of the
Pleuron, and if this contains chitinized fragments it is located
in the first of these. At least the second to eighth pairs of
spiracles are cleft-shaped, fairly large.
3. Jassidce. — The structures of this family agree largely with
the foregoing. The form, the structure of which I have found
easiest to study — and, if one likes, most typically developed —
is the female of the very common Tettigonia viridis, L., for
which reason it is the basis for the following observations.
The tergite of the first segment is not developed medianly,
but more towards the side it appears as a not particularly long
plate, which then contracts again, and terminates a little from
the lateral margin ; the sternite is very short, and does not
extend quite out to the lateral margins, and is interrupted
medianly. The second tergite is well developed, not particularly
long, and extends almost to the side margins ; the sternite is
medianly nearly as long as the tergite, and its shortened lateral
margins reach almost to the lateral margins of the body. The
third to eighth segments are very similar to those in the Cerco-
pids. On the fourth to seventh segments each Pleuron consists
of a broad, strongly chitinized, exterior piece, and an inner band,
which for its entire length contains a narrow chitinous plate ; in
the third and the eighth segments an inner plate of that kind is
not developed.
(To be continued.)
ENTOM. — AUGUST, 1902.
218 THE ENTOMOLOGIST.
NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS.
White Ants or Termites. — Amoug the wonders of natural history,
few can surpass the dependence of the life of these insects on that of
their queen. This, at least, is generally believed in Bloemfontein, and
I have reason to believe it true from what I have known myself. Many
years ago (1879) a colony established itself close to the cathedral and
to the house of Bishop Webb. Two Dutch Boers undertook the rid-
dance, and had to go eleven feet deep before the queen was found — a
large grub, with head like that of a bee. Till then the soldiers fought
hard, and the hands of the Boers were covered with blood. After she
was captured and taken away they became lethargic, and I had some
difficulty in inducing one to attack me — but the mandibles cut like a
pair of sharp scissors. I left South Africa shortly afterwards, but was
glad to ascertain that no mischief whatever occurred afterwards. The
creatures are called " hbutkoppers " (wood-cutters), and I have seen a
plant about the size of a slate-pencil cut to pieces by them. The
white ants of Queensland, though about as mischievous, are, as far
as I have seen them, much smaller and different. I was told by the
Government ant-destroyer that he had found fifty-three queens in one
nest ! He had, of course, some difficulty in convincing other experts.
In that colony another sort of ant, of a dull red, of exactly the same
size, and so able to go up their tunnels, fights and destroys many. —
(Rev.) George Glover; 65, Church Road, St. Leonard's-on-Sea.
Two Varieties of Lyc^ena icarus, — I have been fortunate enough
to take two varieties of Lijcicna icarus this year in Dorking, both of
them on the same ground on the south side of Ranmore. On June 7th,
while pill-boxing Lycmia hellargus among the wet grass in the evening,
I came upon a male specimen of L. icarus quite normal on the upper
side, but whose under side was as follows : — The marginal spots are
very faint on both the fore and hind wings, and on each wing, in
place of the usual thirteen or nine black spots with white circumscrip-
tion, there is a single spot, the middle one only, all the rest of the
wings being plain ashy-grey. It is rather a small specimen, but,
luckily, in perfect condition. On June 14th, when engaged upon a
similar pursuit, I took a gynandrous specimen. It possesses the male
coloration on the left side, and the female on the right, the latter
being of the blue form, though the black discoidal spot and the mar-
ginal spots are quite distinct. This, too, is in perfect condition. —
F. A. Oldaker; Parsonage House, Dorking, July 11th, 1902.'
Varieties of Amphidasys betularia. — I was much interested in
Mr. Gervase Mathew's note (ante, p. 197) on the variety of A. betularia
bred by him. Last year I took here a typical male, in cop. with a
black female, resembling the variety described by Mr. Mathew. The,
latter I kept for ova, and she deposited a large number, the larvas
from which fed up well on plum. I unfortunately kept the pupas too
dry, and only thirteen moths were bred, but every one of them had
black primaries dusted with white scales, some rather more than
others ; thorax and abdomen black, some examples having a few white
scales on these also, front part of head white ; secondaries pale. I
may mention that I was walking in the road when I saw the male
CAPTURES AND FIELD REPORTS. 219
parent, which was very conspicuous on a dark brick wall, but I had
no idea the female was there also, until I came right up to it. This
struck me as being an excellent instance of the usefulness of melanism
for protective purposes in the neighbourhood of smoky London. —
F. M. B. Carr ; 46, Handen Road, Lee, S.E.
British TACHiNiDiE. — I should be very greatly obliged to any rearers
of Lepidoptera, &c., who would save for me any Tachinidae (parasitic
two-winged flies) they happen to breed. — Colbran J. Wainwright ; 2,
Handsworth Wood Road, Handsworth, Staffs.
British Orthoptera. — Mr. W. J. Lucas, of 28, Knight's Park,
Kingston-on-Thames, who is preparing a Monograph on British
Orthoptera, would be glad to receive local lists of the various species
of earwigs, cockroaches, grasshoppers, locusts, and crickets. The lists
should include every species, however common, and those from Scot-
land and Ireland would be especially welcome.
CAPTURES AND FIELD REPORTS.
AciDALiA MARGiNEPUNCTATA Ab. — I 866 in the June number of ' The
Entomologist ' a figure of a curious aberration of Acidalia margine-
punctata taken by Mr. J. P. Lawson at Clevedon. I took an exactly
similar specimen in Sheppey, on the evening of Aug. 26th, 1899, with a
large number of typical examples. — E. A. Cockayne ; 6, Tapton House
Road, Sheffield, June 23rd, 1902.
Pyrameis (Vanessa) cardui in Fifeshire. — As the appearance of
this butterfly in Scotland is irregular, it may be worthy of note that I
took a fine specimen on Kemback Hill, four miles from here, on June
28th last. It was flying among firs, over heather adjoining cultivated
land. — Henry H. Brown ; Cupar-Fife.
Sphinx pinastki at Winchester. — On June 30th one of my pupils
took a fine specimen of S. pinastri on a lamp-post in the suburbs of
Winchester. — E. I. Johns ; Winton House, Winchester.
Iphiclides (Papilio) podalirius in Lancashire. — A short time ago
a scholar attending a country school in South Lancashire brought a
live butterfly to the school and gave it to the master. The latter
killed it, and asked a friend interested in the Lepidoptera to mount
and name it. He said it was Iphiclides podalirius. The specimen was
then shown to several collectors, some of whom strongly urged that
inquiries should be made concerning its capture, &c., and the results
published, as the affair was one which could not fail to be interesting
to all engaged in the study of the Lepidoptera. The inquiries resulted
as follows : — The fly was found entangled in a spider's web, in the
forcing-house of Mr. Wm. Westwell, florist, Pennington Leigh. The
following is a list of all the plants which have been in that house
during the last year : — Small palms from Belgium, ditto from St.
Albans, roses from France, spirasa from Holland, azaleas from Belgium,
aralia (seeds) from France. — Wm. Burton; 39, Newton Road, Lowton,
Newton-le-Willows, July 1st, 1902.
220 THE ENTOMOLOGIST.
Lakv^ and Pup^ of Plusia moneta in London. — Between June
4th and lOtli last I found fifteen larvre and three pupae of Plusia moneta
on Delphinium in a garden at Heme Hill, Surrey, which place is
within the four-mile radius of Charing Cross. All the larvae have now
spun up, except three which died ; those which spun up on the under
side of the leaves made cocoons of a semi-transparent white colour,
which after about a week changed to a rich golden yellow, while those
(the majority) which spun up on the wood of the breeding-house spun
similar cocoons, but these, however, have not changed colour. Two
imagos, up to the present time, have emerged. — Pialeigh S. Small-
man ; Carlton House, Heme Hill, S.E., July 5th, 1902.
Cymatophora octogesima (ocularis) and Plusia moneta in Middle-
sex. — It may interest you to hear that I have taken, at Hampton Hill,
two good specimens of C. ocularis at light this month, one on the 6th
and the other on the 7th ; also two specimens of P. moneta over flowers
at dusk, one on the 12th and the other on the 13th of this month. —
Herbert S. Job ; The Vicarage, Hampton Hill, Middlesex, July 20th.
Hydrelia uncula in Surrey. — On the occasion of the Field
Meeting of the South London Entomological and Natural History
Society, held at Wisley on July 5th last, several specimens of H.
uncula were captured. On the 14tli of that month the species was still
out, and I secured five specimens in fine condition; This species does
not appear to have been previously observed in the county. — Eichard
South.
Ditula semifasciana and Antithesia salicella in Surrey. — At
Wisley, on July 14th, whilst collecting FAipithecia tenuiata from the
lichen-covered stems of some large sallows, I obtained one example of
D. seimfasciana and one of A, salicella ; another specimen of the last-
named species was missed. With regard to D. semifasciana, I may
mention that I am indebted to Mr. A. Cant for a fine specimen that he
reared from a larva found at Wimbledon in the spring. — Eichard
South.
Hedya lariciana in Surrey. — This species is sometimes fairly
common among the larches on the Deepdene estate at Boxhill. I
looked for it there on July 12th this year, but did not see it. At
Wisley, however, on July 14th, I netted two specimens, and others
were seen, but as I had the misfortune to break the top joint of my
net-rod, I was unable to capture any more examples. — Eichard South.
ToRTRIX PICEANA AND SeRICORIS BIFASCIANA IN THE EsHER DiSTRICT.
As very close searching during the latter part of May and the beginning
of June had failed to detect the larva of T. piceana, I had formed tlie
opinion that the species would be scarce in the perfect state this year.
On the contrary, however, it proved to be more abundant than I have
ever known it to be before. A female specimen was beaten out during
the afternoon of June 28th, and between six and seven o'clock in the
evening of the same day several examples were seen flying high around
pines, and two males and one female were captured. Between 3 and
4 p.m. on July 1st Tortrices were flying in great numbers over and
around the pine trees ; most of these were out of reach, but by four
o'clock, when a heavy thunder-shower caused me to retreat, I had
SOCIETIES. 221
secured six male specimens of T. piceana. Two males and one female
were netted on July 3i'd, and twelve specimens, including one female,
were captured on July 7tli. On the last-named date most of the
examples taken were disturbed from heather under the pines in the
afternoon, but scores were seen madly careering around the trees
about 7 p.m. S. bifasciana was common on each of the dates men-
tioned, but the majority of the specimens netted were not in good con-
dition after the thunderstorm. — Kichard South; 96, Drakefield Eoad,
Upper Tooting, S.W.
SOCIETIES.
Entomological Society of London. — Jane Ath, 1902. — The Eev.
Canon Fowler, M.A., D.Sc, F.L.S., President, in the chair. — Mr.
Stanley W. Kemp, of 80, Oxford Gardens, Notting Hill, W., was
elected a Fellow of the Society. — Mr. H. W. Shepheard-Walwyn ex-
hibited a recently-emerged male specimen of Lampides bcEticus taken at
Winchester in September, 1899, and two varieties of Lyccena icarus. —
Mr, C. P. Pickett exhibited one asymmetrical male and two females of
Dilina tilicB, and a series of the same insect showing great variation of
colour and marking, bred during May, 1902. — Mr. F. Merrifield showed
enlarged photographs of larvae of Hygrochroa syringarla. The larva is
usually represented in an attitude in which it is practically never seen,
crawling in an elongated form with its pair of long fleshy dorsal tubercles
conspicuously projecting. But its habit is not to crawl, except in the
dark, when it cannot be seen. All day it clings to the edge of a leaf
or to a twig, in an attitude about as unlike a caterpillar good for a bird
to eat as anything can well be, presenting a quadrangular form, some-
thing like a square hassock with tassels at the corners, and in one or
two other places ; the body is bent so as to form four right angles, the
head and the anal segments forming two of the tassels, and the rest of
the body forming a square from which the pair of long tubercles
project at one corner, the other dorsal tubercles making other projec-
tions. Usually the parts of the body are so closely appressed that no
daylight is visible between them, even when seen broadside against the
light, which can rarely happen in nature. The resting attitude, un-
like that of the Selenias, is practically the same in all stages of growth,
and at all ages it is especially addicted to hanging down a few inclies
suspended by a silken thread, still preserving the hunched-up quad-
rangular form. Compared with the very dissimilar but equally mis-
leading attitudes of other larvae — such as the rigid A. betularia or the
thorn-like Selenia — it seems an interesting illustration of the very
different forms of disguise by which the result of escape from danger is
attained. Mr. Merrifield also showed photographs of the dark-brown
bronzy pupa of this species, in its hammock of open network of silk,
very slight but exceedingly strong, from the bottom of which the larval
skin is projected, not shortened and compressed, but pushed through
the network, and hanging down like a long tail, so as apparently to
attain the same end as in the larval stages, the disguising of its real
nature; it looks very unlike an ordinary pupa. — Professor E. B.
Poulton, F.R.S., exhibited a lantern-slide showing the perfect protec-
222 THE ENTOMOLOGIST.
tive resemblance of H. leucophcBaria to the oak-trunk upon which it
rested. — Mr. A. Bacot exhibited hybrid larvje resulting from a pairing
between a male Malacosoma nenstria and a female M. castrensis, also
larvae of M. nenstria, and reputed larvae of M. franconica, for com-
parison. He said that this year's brood of hybrid larvae had separated
into two batches, tbe " Forwards " being now nearly full-fed, and from
one and a-half to two and a-half inches in length. The " Laggards "
were not yet half grown, being half to three-quarters of an inch long,
in this respect exactly following last year's brood resulting from a
similar cross, in which case the "Forwards" produced only female
specimens, while the " Laggards " produced only males. — Mr. H. J.
Elwes, F.R.S., read a paper on " The Butterflies of Chile," and ex-
hibited a selection of .the specimens he had taken during December,
January, and February, in that country. The endemic species of
Satyrid^e and Hesperid^e constituted about two-thirds of the whole
butterfly fauna, Nymphalidfe and Lycfenidfe being very few in numbers.
Some butterflies of Holarctic types, such as Colias vautieri, had an
extremely wide range, and extended, with little variation, right down
to the Straits of Magellan. Among the most remarkable species
which he showed was the unique Satyrid, Ari/i/rophurus argenteus, the
upper side of which is of a brilliant metallic silver colour, nothing
similar existing in the whole family. This flies on open grassy hill-
sides; whilst in the forests close by, a Hesperid, Cyclnpides piiehiue, has
its wings on the under side entirely of a metallic golden colour, this
also being unique among the Hesperidse. It seemed impossible to
account for such remarkable cases of coloration by any theory of pro-
tective colouring. No natural frontier appeared to exist between Chile
and Argentina, and nearly all the mountain species occurred on both
sides of the political frontier, there being little difference between the
alpine and the low country species. — -Mr. S. L. Hinde read a paper,
illustrated by lantern-slides, upon "The Protective Resemblance to
Flowers borne by an African Homopterous Insect, Plata nigrocincta,
Walker." He said that " the cluster of insects grouped to resemble a
flower-spike," which forms the frontispiece of Professor J. W.
Gregory's ' Great Rift Valley,' had attracted some criticism, and that
as he was familiar with the insect figured, and with its larva, in a
wild state, it seemed desirable to publish the evidence. In the plate
the insects are collected on the vertical stem, the green individuals
uppermost considerably smaller than the red beneath, like the un-
opened green buds towards the top of a flowering spike as compared
with the expanded blossoms below. The separate representations of
the green and red forms, however, indicate no difi'erence in size, and
experience confirms this conclusion, so that the impression conveyed
by the frontispiece plate is erroneous. After further noting that the
uniform deep pink colour of the exposed parts of the insects figured was
also incorrect, Mr. Hinde remarked that he had never seen the insects
grouped according to their colours, but invariably mixed ; that he had
never found larvse and imagines on the same stem, or even together on
the same tree or bush ; nor did the imagines affect vertical stems, but
always those actually or approximately horizontal. When disturbed
the imagines fly, and the larva hops, a short distance in any direction,
but soon collect into groups again. The larvse toward the end of a
SOCIETIES. 223
growing branch are the smallest, and this arrangement might possibly
reconcile Professor Gregory's account with the more recent observa-
tions. — H. Eowland-Brown, Hon. Sec.
South London Entomological and Natural History Society. —
Mai/ 22/(ri, 1902.— Mr. F. Noad Clark, President, in the chair. — Mr.
Edwards exhibited fine specimens of Morpho cypris from Soutli America,
and several species of the genus Cali;/o. — Mr. F. M, B. Carr, a variable
series of Boarmia cinctaria from the New Forest. — Mr. Barnett,
Hyhernia marfjiiuiria from West Wickham woods, one example ap-
proaching the form var. fuscata. — Mr. South, male and female Liphyra
brassolis, with ova, preserved larva, larva-skins, a pupa, and a pupa-
case, illustrating the curious life-history of this Queensland Lyc^enid,
received from Mr. Dodd, and read notes. — Mr. B. W. Adkin, series of
Tceniocampa miniosa, pale forms, and series of 2\ incerta, both from the
New Forest. — Mr. Montgomery, bred Pieris napi, showing slight
gynandromorphism in the markings. — Mr. Main, living larvae of
Lithosia mesomella. It was remarked that this larva has spatulate
hairs. — Mr. Lucas read the report of the field-meeting held at Book-
ham on May 10th.
June 12th. — The President in the chair, — Mr. Ashdown exhibited
living larvfe of Attagenus pellis feeding on wool. — Mr. Tonge, a Noctua
he had recently captured, and which was afterwards recognized by Mr.
South as a worn and probably hybernated example of Hadena protea.
— Mr. Moore, a specimen of the rare Psetuiacrcea trimenii from the
Transvaal Colony, which differed from the type in the large area of
white on the lower wings. — Mr. Lucas, GryJlotalpa vulgaris (the mole-
cricket) from Brockenhurst, and an example of the dipteron, Meriania
argentifera, from the New Forest, and new to Britain. — Mr. E. Adkin
gave a report of the Annual Congress of the South-Eastern Union of
Scientific Societies, held at Canterbury on June 6th and 7th. — Mr.
Hy. J. Turner read the report of the field-meeting held at Eeigate on
May 24tli. — Hy. J. Turner {Hon. Rep. Secretary).
Birmingham Entomological Society. — June 16th, 1902. — Mr. E. C.
Bradley in the chair. — Mr. Bradley showed Syrphus barbifrons, Fall.,
taken at Sutton on April 14th last. He went specially to find it, but
it was scarce, and very difficult to distinguish from Melangyna quadri-
viaculata, Ver., amongst which it was flying. The latter species is
common, the former species very rare and local, and possibly over-
looked amongst the guadrimacidata. He obtained six males and five
females ; also, at the same time and place, he took one -S'. arcticus,
Zett. (male). All were taken flying at sallow-bloom. — Mr. C. J.
Wainwright, a boxful of Trypetids, including a large number taken
ill Wyre Forest on July 13th, 14th and 22ud last. On these three
days he obtained no less than thirteen species of this one family.
Trypeta onotrophes, Lw., in great abundance ; T. florescenticc, L., and
T. serratulcB, L., not common, but a fair series of each from various
thistles ; Urophora stylata, F. ; Carphotricha guttularis, Mg., and C
impillata, Fall., in single ones ; Tephrites miliaria, Schrk., common ;
T. proboscidea, Lw., a short series ; T. ruralis, Lw. (two) ; T. tessellata,
Lw., common ; and a few of the commoner and more usual species.
-^CoLBRAN J. Wainwright, Hon. Sec.
224 THE ENTOMOLOGIST.
RECENT LITERATURE.
G. Breddin. "Die Hemipteren von Celebes." 1901. Abli. Naturf.
Gesellsch. Halle, xxiv. pp. 1-217, 1 plate and 1 text-map [sepa-
rately paged copy] .
As everyone knows, Celebes is remarkable, as regards its Vertebrata
at least, in belonging strictly neither to the Oriental nor to the
Australian Region. Dr. Breddin has been so fortunate as to have had
for examination the collections recently made by Fruhstorfer, Kiiken-
thal, and the brothers Sarasin, and the result is an elaborate and care-
fully-prepared contribution to our knowledge of insular faunas, con-
sisting of (1) a list, with localities, of all the certain and dubious
Celebesian Rhynchota ; (2) description of new forms, &c, ; and (3) the
inter-relations of the various Malayan faunas, the latter section being
very fally discussed. Of course, as is natural where non-specialists
have been the collectors, it is of the Cimicidfe, Lygaeidae (=:Coreidfe),
Reduviidffi, Cicadidffi, and Cercopidte that we have the fullest informa-
tion, 75 per cent, of the recorded forms being referable to these
families.
The claims of 221 species are regarded as established, of which 143
are precinctive''- so far as is known. Of the rest, a small number are
widely distributed throughout the Oriental and Australian Regions ;
most, however, are confined to one or more of the neighbouring
islands, principally Java, Sumatra, Borneo, and the Philippines. The
conclusions reached are as follows : —
(1.) A land-bridge existed formerly, connecting East Java and
South Celebes.
(2.) A similar bridge between the Philippines (Mindanao) and
North Celebes.
(3.) Of these two, the former has been a little the more productive.
(4.) Borneo has not a single rhynchoton in common with Celebes
(this is also the case with the mammals, land-birds, reptiles, am-
phibia, and land- and freshwater molluscs), which is not also found at
the same time in Java, or in the Philippines, or in both of these latter.
Celebes and Borneo have therefore never been in direct communica-
tion so as to render possible an interchange of species, the Macassar
Straits forming an impassable boundary. The species common to
Borneo and Celebes have become interchanged, either partly by a
detour through Java, or partly tln'ough the Philippines, or probably by
both ways at the same time.
(5.) Java has not been directly connected with Borneo, Sumatra
having been the connecting link.
(6.) A bridge between Borneo and the Philippines existed formerly
via Bangvey Island which, though nearer Borneo, shows some clear
Philippine types.
I have noted only a single omission from the list of authentic
Celebesian Rhynchota, viz. the widely distributed Clerada apicicornis,
Signoret. q ^_ Kirkaldy.
■''• " Confined to the area under discussion." See D. Sharp, 1900, 'Fauna
Hawaiiensis,' ii. p. 91.
THE ENTOMOLOGIST
Vol. XXXV.l SEPTEMBER, 1902. [No. 472.
ON THE LA.RVA OF LIPHYRA BRAS80LIS, Westw.
By Dr. T. A. Chapman, F.E.S.
Two of the larvae of Liphyra brassolis, sent to the Editor by
Mr. Dodd {ante, p. 154), are apparently a full-grown one and
another of very much smaller size, l^hese two are so very
different that, if they came from different places with different
histories, one would never suspect their being at all related.
The smaller one is 6 mm. long and 2*3 mm. wide, very
flat, reminding one very much of the larva of Camponiscus luridi-
veiitris (a common alder sawfly) in its general size and form, or,
for that matter, of an ordinary Lyccsna larva, if we make it first
colourless, then nearly flat instead of raised along the dorsal
line, and, thirdly, if we somewhat exaggerate the rounded lateral
projections of the segmental margins. The segmental divisions
as seen dorsally are twelve, of which the first and last, of course,
are terminal. White and soft as this larva looks, the margins
nevertheless have something of the appearance and structure of
the full-grown larva, having a strong chitinous binding, divided
into small cells. The prothorax has a slight angle on either
side, allowing the front between the two angles to be a transverse
straight line ; beneath it is the head, placed quite centrally
beneath it, but quite free from it and capable of much move-
ment, including probably protrusion in front. The last segment,
which is seen dorsally, is the ninth abdominal, and beneath
this is the tenth, carrying the anal prolegs ; the true segmental
divisions are very plain on a ventral view of the larva. The
prothoracic spiracle lies in the fold between the pro- and meso-
thorax, but the abdominal spiracles are each on about the middle
of its own segment, placed dorsally, about half-way from the
middle line to the margin. I do not detect anywhere any hairs
or tubercles.
ENTOM. — SEPTEMBER, 1902. T
226 THE ENTOMOLOGIST.
The nervous ganglia are very visible as reddish brown
masses ; a large one in prothorax : this represents the cephalic
and oesophageal : the prothoracic proper towards posterior mar-
gin of segments ; then one each to meso-thorax and eight
following segments ; the last and largest of these, though in
sixth abdominal segment, appears to belong to seventh and
following segments, which are without ganglia.
The prolegs are of much interest, not in themselves, but
when we compare them with those of the adult larva ; they are
on a rather thick cylindrical base, and have the usual " macro "
form of one row of crotchets, facing inwards, thirteen to seventeen
in number ; on the anal claspers they are much smaller and few
in number (nine), and are similarly in one row. The true legs
are short and thick, and terminate in very curved claws. The
head is small, about 2*5 mm. in diameter ; it has in front — on
epicranium, clypeus, and labrum — a number of short stiff hairs
(none seen elsewhere on larva), the largest about "08 mm. in
length. The autennne are rather longer than this, but happen
to be telescoped, — the second joint is not in evidence, — about
•06 mm. long and "04 mm. thick, with a terminal armament of
bristles, amongst which the third joint is not clearly discriminated.
The head itself is rather dark in colour from being well chitinised
(the true legs and crotchets are the only other dark chitinised
parts) ; beneath it are three circles, carrying jointed palpus-like
appendages ; the central one is the largest, and represents
probably the labium, though at first it looks very like the
spinneret, with the other two as labial palpi. The two lateral
ones, however, are probably the maxillary palpi, especially as
they appear to have another, ill-developed process. The jaws
are long, and cross one another for some distance, and each
seems to consist of a straight conical process, with only one
sharp terminal point — a simple spike or dagger, and not the
flat-toothed jaws usual in leaf-eating Lepidoptera.
The large larva is a very different object. At first sight
nothing could be less like a lepidopterous larva. Looking down
on its back, we have an approximately flat surface, oval in form,
rather narrower in front than behind, with a margin smooth,
regular, uniform, and of same texture, &c., all round, no trace
of segmentation, &c. Let us turn it over : it now lies on its flat
dorsal surface, the dimensions of which, by the way, are 23 mm.
X 15 mm. It stands up above the surface about 5*6 mm., with
a level, but not smooth top, but with smooth and sloping sides.
The amount of the slope may be seen by the comparison of the
top and bottom; the top (venter of larva) is 18 mm. by 7 mm.,
against the 23 x 15 just mentioned. The slope is nearly nil at
the head end, and by so much the more therefore elsewhere.
The dorsum and sides are brown, hard, and chitinous. The
sloping sides show little indication of segmentation, but at the
ON THE LARVA OF LIPHYRA BRASSOLIS. 227
margin of the open (and soft) ventral area present a series of
dark markings, very slightly raised on rounded elevations, but
so shaded as to look very much so. As it now lies on its back,
it is not unlike a Melton-Mowbray pork-pie, of perhaps unusual
oval shape, and sides more than usually sloping, the resemblance
being heightened by the brown (chitinous) crust-colour of the
sides, and the dark markings representing the more baked mar-
ginal sinuations with which such pies are often ornamented.
The lid of the pie is the small flat ventral area of the larva,
slightly wider anteriorly, and presenting the head, legs, prologs,
&c. This area is pale and white, and is the only portion where
any movement can possibly occur, the rest being a solid chitinous
cap. Constructed as it is to permit this soft area to be absolutely
covered and hidden on the surface on which the larva rests, one
is surprised at its widening out above this area, quite regularly
till, at a sudden sharp margin, the sides meet the flat top. The
brown marginal marks are apparently two to a segment, certainly
so at the sides where they are largest, and where a faint de-
pression along the sloping sides seems to mark each segmental
division. To see this, however, requires close examination, and
some might say a little imagination.
Turning the larva over again, to examine the back more
carefully, we find the margin very sharp, and slightly browner
than the terra-cotta centre. Laterally and posteriorly it is a
little hollowed within the margin. Across the middle are three
very distinct lines, darker in colour, and with the surface in
front of them decidedly higher than that behind. They occupy
the middle two-fourths of the surface, but do not invade the
fourths on each side next the margin. In front and behind
these the indication of the segmental divisions are very obscure.
A faint indication of a dorsal ridge exists in front of these lines.
There are also a number of dots that appear to be obsolete hair-
points, arranged in some degree as a transverse line across each
segment, but with outlines enough to make such a statement a
little doubtful or even misleading. The two segments marked out
by the dorsal lines are the fourth and fifth abdominal.
The character of the sharp margin of the dorsal area wants
a little more definite description. In the first place, the out-
sloping sides, for their top millimetre, cease to slope, but become
vertical ; then inside the sharp border the surface descends again
steeply, so as to form a sharp raised border to the central area.
In front the inner slope soon bends into the flat dorsal area ;
behind it does so more slowly, resulting in the hollow above
noticed; round this portion there is, inside as well as outside,
the sharp margin, a breadth of about 1 mm., differentiated by a
slight line from the general dorsal surface. Seen microscopically,
the whole surface consists of very minute raised dots, each carry-
ing a fine point ; on the marginal flange surrounding the dorsum
T 2
228
THE ENTOMOLOGIST.
these are modified into an arrangement that has just the appear-
ance of overlapping fish-scales. The spiracles are difficult to
find, in fact I have failed to find the thoracic spiracle ; the
abdominal ones are precisely where they are in the small larva,
viz. on the flat dorsum, half-way between the median line and
the margin ; they are very small, and differ little in appearance
from the hair-dots noted above ; they are minute holes, with no
marginal structure ; some trace of the true spiracles can be seen
at a little depth within them, accompanied by a scale-like outer
margin.
(To be continued.)
BUTTERFLY COLLECTING IN SOUTHERN ANDALUSIA
IN THE SPRING OF 1902.
By Rev. Henry Charles Lang, M.D., F.E.S., M.R.C.S., &c.
After a marvellous recovery from a severe illness, the result
of mental strain, I was ordered to get away for rest and change
of scene, and found just what I required in the shape of an
English chaplaincy at Jerez de la Frontera, in Andalusia.
Starting from England on March 11th, I arrived at Jerez, via
Paris, Madrid, and Seville, on Saturday, March 15th. For a
few days, as the guest of Mr. W. Buck, British Vice-Consul, at
his beautiful house 'El Palacio,' I had every advantage in the
suggestion of likely localities. My collecting began after church-
time on Sunday, March 16th.
Jerez is an exceedingly picturesque Spanish town, full of
Moorish and mediaeval remains of great interest, and with quaint
old streets of dazzlingly whitewashed houses, lined Avith fragrant
orange trees. The vegetation in the gardens and squares is that
of the subtropical character common to Southern Andalusia,
the palm trees in the Plaza Mayor being taller than any I have
seen in Europe. The country round is, in point of scenery, not
very striking, being of an undulating character rather than
hilly. The soil is heavy, and the roads are very dusty in dry
weather, and very sticky and muddy after rain. Vineyards and
corn-fields are the chief features of the scenery ; these are inter-
sected by roads flanked on either side with hedges of cactus or
of aloes. The latter are often the only shelter from the burning
sun, there being very few trees of any size in the district.
On my first day's collecting, principally along one of the
afore-mentioned roads, between the cactus hedges, I found IViais
rumina (common), Pieris brassicce, P. rapa, Colias ediisa, Thestor
hallus, Pyrameis atalanta, P. cardui, P. megcera, and P. egeria.
During the next two days, on the latter of which I visited a
small estate known as " El Pinal," where is a small forest of
BUTTERFLY COLLECTING IN SOUTHERN ANDALUSIA. 229
gigantic umbrella pines, I added the following to my list : —
Pajjilio podaliriiis va^v./eisthcunelii, Euchloe belemia and var, glauce,
E. euphenoides, E. cardamines (one), Gonepteryx cleopatra, Chry-
sophanus phlceas, Callophrys riibi, Lyccena astrarche, Vanessa
polychloros.
During the first few days the weather was very hot — ab-
normally so, even for Andalusia ; but during the last ten days of
the month it became very unsettled and cloudy, with rain at
frequent intervals, and with but little sunshine ; my collecting,
however, continued whenever opportunities occurred, but by the
end of March I had only added to the list Euchloe belia and
Pieris daplidice on March 24th, and Papilio machaon and Lyccena
icarus on March 25th.
The commonest butterflies during this month at Jerez were
Colias edusa and Pyrameis cardiii, which seem to be very abun-
dant throughout Andalusia. P. atalanta was also common, and
appeared to be in quite a fresh condition. Apparently this
species emerges early in the spring ; none of the specimens
appeared to have hybernated. Pieris hrassicce was also common
everywhere.
From April 1st to 4th I collected at Konda. I felt well
repaid for my journey thither, not only on account of the
interesting old place, with its wonderful rocky gorges 530 ft.
deep in the centre of the town, and its lofty surrounding moun-
tains, but also by reason of my successful collecting. I found a
lovely spot about two miles south of the town on the banks of
the Guadalevir, well wooded with olives, pines, and ilex, with a
thick undergrowth of mytles and bay trees, and abounding with
white and purple cistus and other beautiful flowers, precipitous
rocks rising on every side ; this was my daily collecting ground,
and here I found butterflies in abundance. Thestor hallus was to
be seen in great numbers, accompanied by Callophrys rubi, which
I have never seen in such profusion, except at Digne, in Provence.
Gonepteryx cleop)atra was in great numbers, and added greatly to
the beauty of the scene, at least in my eyes. Euchloe belia and
E. belemia were also very common, but the chief prize was
E. tagisy which was to be seen here in profusion. It is easily
distinguished when on the wing from the other two species,
being of much more feeble flight, and easier of capture. E.
belemia, though very common, is not easy to take ; it has a way
of evading the net by a dexterous doubling movement, of which
E. tagis seems to be incapable. E. belia also is a strong-winged
species, and requires a great deal of negotiation, but E. tagis is
easily taken ; I took fifty specimens in two days, and might
have taken very many times that number if I had chosen to do
so. This was my first acquaintance with the typical form of the
species ; hitherto I had only known it in its Provencal form
bellezina, from which it is very distinct. It is very constant,
230 THE ENTOMOLOGIST.
and is not capable of being confounded with E. helia ; most
English writers have been rather at fault in their description of
this species (myself included), but a personal acquaintance with
it will leave no room for mistaking the hazy, clouded appearance
of the markings of the under side, and the generally slender
character of the insect as compared with the other species. The
original figure of Hiibner exactly represents it.
I found here Leptidia sinajns for the first time in Spain ;
large and lightly marked. Other species taken here were
Papilio podalirms var. feisthanielii, P. machaon, Pieris daplidice,
Gonepteryx rhcunni, Euchloe euphenoides, and Lyccena bellargus.
Thais rumina was also common.
Vanessa polychloros was seen several times at Ronda, flying
about ilex trees ; I mention this particularly, as it is marked in
both editions of Staudinger's Catalogue "?And." The specimens
taken appeared to be hybernated ones.
On my return to Jerez, on April 6th, I visited a range of low
calcareous hills (Los Cruces) four miles to the south, overlooking
the Atlantic, with views of Cadiz and Puerto S. Maria ; there I
found, in addition to the common species, Lyccena lo7'qmnii
(very sparingly, however) and Melanargia ines just beginning to
appear. Syrichthus sao was also taken.
The only other species taken during the rest of my stay at
Jerez were Epinephele pasijjliae, which became after a time pretty
abundant; and, in one spot only, Melitcea (etheria, now ranked as
a good species in Staudinger's Catalogue, 1901. Of this I took
a good series in fine condition on April 18th.
On April 12th I saw a specimen, in good condition, of Argynnis
latonia, in the grounds of ' El Palacio.'
Two days were spent in Cadiz, but the weather was very un-
favourable, with only a few gleams of sunshine. Yet, whenever
the sun did shine, there were plenty of butterflies to be seen,
though only common ones — P. atalanta, P. cardui, C. edusa,
P. rap(B, P. brassicce, &c. Several times observed P. cardui
flying, moth fashion, round the gas-lamps at night.
On April 22nd I went to Malaga, where the environs are very
beautiful, and suggestive of the presence of butterflies. Here in
the hills of the Mediterannean littoral I found a fair number of
species. Melanargia ines and Epinephele pasiphae were abun-
dant ; E. ianira was beginning to appear, also Coenonympha
pamphiliis. Of Lyccena bcetica two specimens were observed. I
also saw two or three specimens of the very small form of Colias
edusa var. pyrenaica, Gr. Gr., "fere duplo minor," Staudinger,
1901. Here also I took var. helice. Epinephele ida was also
taken on April 29th. Euchloe belemia and E. belia and Pyrameis
cardui and atalanta were common.
From Malaga I went up to Alhourhin el Grande, a village
about ten miles northward ; in the mountains here I hoped to
BUTTERFLY COLLECTING IN SOUTHERN ANDALUSIA. 231
find Zegris meridionalis, but did not succeed in getting it. I
found Lyccena lorquinii in abundance in the higher regions,
flying about thyme flowers in little groups. This is a good
species, quite distinct from L. minima, and only occurs in
Andalusia. I was in error in describing it in a former paper as
occurring at Digne ; I am now convinced that the Provencal
specimens were only a small form of L. sebnis, from which this
differs entirely.
From trying to do too much climbing after my recent illness,
I unfortunately strained my knee-joint, and was unable to do as
much collecting as I should have wished in this locality, which
seems a very good one, but I took a few specimens of MclitcBci
phoebe var. occitanica, Stgr., on the higher ground, and, in
addition, Melanargia syllius and Pararge mcsra var. adrasta.
At Gibraltar, on May 2nd, I looked out for butterflies, and
observed on the rock, and particularly at Europa Point, Thais
rumina (one specimen), Papilio viachaon, C. edusa, P. atalanta,
P. cardui, E. Ida, E. ianira, P. megcera, CoenoJiympha pampkilus,
Lyccena asirarche, and L. icarus.
During one day's excursion in the woods near the waterfall
at Algeciras, I found most of the common species, including
Euchloe helemia, and took one specimen of Lyccena melanops.
The following is a list of the species taken in Andalusia from
March 16th to May 3rd :—
1 Papilio podalirius var./eisi-
22
Melanargia syllius.
2 P. machaon. [hamelii.
23
M. ines.
3 Thais rumina.
24
Pararge megcera.
4 Pieris hrassicce.
25
P. mcera var. adrasta.
5 P. rapce.
26
P. egeria.
6 P. daplidice.
27
Epinephele ianira.
7 Euchloe helemia and var.
28
E. ida.
8 E. helia. [glance.
29
E. padphae.
9 E.tagis.
30
Coenonympha pamphilus
10 E. cardamines.
31
Callophrys riibi.
11 E. euphenoides.
32
Thestor ballus.
12 Leptidia sinapis.
33
Chrysophanus pldoeas.
13 Colias edusa and var. helice.
34
Lampides hoeticus.
14 Gonepteryx rhamni.
35
Lyccena astrarche.
15 G. cleopatra.
36
L. icarus.
16 Pyranieis atalanta.
37
L. bellargus.
17 P. cardui.
38
L. lorquinii.
18 Vanessa polychloros.
39
L. melanops.
19 Melitcea cetheria.
40
Cyaniris argiolus.
20 M. phoebe var. occitanica.
41
Carcharodus alcece.
21 Argynnis latonia.
42
Hesperia sao.
232
THE ENTOMOLOGIST.
A CONTEIBUTION TO THE CLASSIFICATION OF THE
COCCIDiE.*
By T. D. a. Cockerkll.
monophlebin^.
Monophlehus, Leach.
Monophlehiis, Leach, in Westwood, Arc. Ent. i. (1845), p. 22.
Tyi^e, atripemiis.
Guerinia, Targ.-Tozz., in Signoret, Ann. Soc. Ent. France,
1875, p. 352. Type, serratulce.
Drosicha, Walker, List Homop. Brit. Mus. Supp. (1858),
p. 306. Type, contrahens.
Tessarohelns, Montronzier, Ann. Soc. Linn. Lyon, xi. (1864),
p. 246. Type, guerinii.
Llaveia, Signoret, Ann. Soc. Ent. France, 1875, p. 370.
Type, axin.
Ortonia, Signoret, Ann. Soc. Ent. France, 1875, p. 367 (not
Ortonia, Wood, 1869). Type, uhleri.
Protortonia, Townsend, Jn. N. Y. Ent. Soc. ,1898, p. 169.
Type, yrimitivus.
2 . Soft, somewhat elongated, more or less hairy, with powdery
or cottony secretion. Legs and anteunse present ; antennae 11- (some-
times 9-) jointed ; no long posterior ovisac. One species has 7-jointed
antennae.
3' . With fleshy caudal processes, arranged along the sides of the
abdomen.
Species. — M. duhius, Fabr. {fahricii, Westw.), Sumatra; M.
atripennis, King, Java; M. leachi, Westw., Malabar; M. saun-
clersi, Westw., India; M. hurmeisteri, Westw., India (?) ; M. zey-
lanicus, Green, Ceylon ; M. contrahens, Signoret, China ; M.
maskelli, Ckll. {hnrmeisteri, Maskell, Tr. N.Z. Inst. xxix. p. 327),
Japan ; M. corpulentus, Kuwana, Japan.
M. illigeri, Westw., Tasmania ; M. crawfordi, Maskell, Aus-
tralia; M. fusciis, Maskell, Australia; M. giiei-inii, Montr., New
Caledonia.
M. sermtulcs, Fabr., Algeria ; M.fortis, Ckll., Natal ; M.ful-
leri, Ckll., Natal ; M. raddoni, Westw., W. Africa.
M. axin, Llave, Mexico ; M. primitivus, Townsend, Mexico ;
M. mexicanormn, Ckll., Mexico; M. bouvari, Signoret, Guatemala ;
M. uhleri, Signoret, Ecuador ; M. championi, Ckll., Panama ;
M. cacti, Linne, St. Eustatius Island, Lesser Antilles.
Unfortunately, many of the species are known only in one sex.
The genus may be divided into a number of sections, thus : —
(1.) Monophlehus, Leach. Male with two caudal appendages.
M. atripennis, M. duhius.
* For tables of subfamilies and genera, see ' Canadian Entomologist,'
October, 1899.
CLASSIFICATION OF THE COCCIDiE. 233
(2.) Tessarobelus, Montr. Male with four caudal appendages.
M. guerinii, M. championi.
(3.) Llaveia, Sign. Male with eight caudal appendages ;
female antennas 11-jointed. M. axin, M. saundersii.
(4.) Drosicha, Walk, Male with ten caudal appendages ;
female antennae 9-jointed. M. contrahens, M. maskelli, M. leachii,
M. burmeisteri.
(5.) Monophlehulus, Ckll. Female with antennae 7-jointed.
M. fuscus.
Stigmacoccus, Hempel.
Stigmacoccus, Hempel, Kev. Mus. Paulista, iv. (1900), p. 399.
Type, asper.
Perissopneumon, Newstead, Ent. Mo. Mag. 1900, p. 250.
Type, ferox.
? . Antennae and legs present ; antennae 7- to8-jointed ; abdomen
with numerous marginal spiracles. Found in nests of ants.
Syecies. — S. asper, Hempel, Brazil ; S. ferox, Newstead, India.
Lopliococcus, Cockerell.
Lophococcus, Ckll, 'Entomologist,' 1901, p. 227. Type,
mirabilis.
2 . Fixed, with a strongly chitinous skin, and a long erect spine on
the middle of the back, this spine originating as an elevated fold of the
skin. No ovisac.
Species. — L. mirabilis, Ckll., Natal ; on Mimosa.
Palceococcus, Cockerell.
Palceococcus, Ckll., Canad. Entom. 1894, p. 36. Type, /w-sci-
peniiis.
Crypticerya, Ckll., Psyche Suppt., 1895, p. 15. Type, rosa.
Leachia, Signoret, Ann Soc. Ent. France, 1875, p. 359 (not
Leachia, Eisso). Tj^e, fuscipennis.
? . Soft, convex, without an ovisac ; genital aperture large, con-
siderably anterior to the end of the body ; antennfe with 9 to 11 joints,
(?. Without caudal fleshy tassels.
Species.— P. fuscipennis, Burm., Europe; P. hellenicus, Gen-
nadius, Attica ; P. irregularis, Germ., P. pinnatus. Germ., and
P. trivenosus, Germ., fossil in Prussian amber.
P. australis, Maskell, Australia ; P. nudata, Maskell, Australia.
P. eivarti, Newstead, W. Africa.
P. braziliensis, Walker, Buenos-Ayres ; P. hempeli, Ckll.,
Brazil ; P. rosce, Riley-Howard, West Indies, &c. ; P. mexicanus,
Cockerell — Parrott, Mexico ; P. toicnsendi, Ckll., New Mexico ; P.
pluchece, Ckll., New Mexico ; P. simplex, Scudder, fossil at Floris-
sant, Colorado.
Section Mimosicerya, Ckll. Female antennae 9-jointed ; skin
strongly chitinous at the sides. P. hempeli.
(To be continued.)
234 THE ENTOMOLOGIST.
ON THE MORPHOLOGY AND CLASSIFICATION OF THE
AUCHENORRHYNCHOUS HOMOPTERA.
By Dr. H. J. Hansen.
(Continued from p. 217.)
The first pair of spiracles lies, as in the Cercopidae, on the
under side, a little within the lateral margin close to the posterior
margin of the metasternum ; the second pair lies at the antero-
exterior angle of the second segment near the lateral margins,
so that they are looking laterally and upwards. The third and
eighth pairs of spiracles lie in the outer solid Pleural Plates,
the fourth to seventh pairs in the anterior part of the narrow
Plates in the inner part of the Pleuron. All the spiracles are
small.
In the Membracinae the abdomen, as is well known, is often
elevated very considerably, compressed, and strongly chitinized,
therewith following certain peculiarities in structure, and in the
situation of the spiracles. As an example, the structure in
Centrotns cornutus is now described. In this the tergite of the
first segment is moderately feeble, somewhat peculiarly formed,
and terminates a good way from the lateral margin ; the sternite
is longer and more solid than in Tettigonia, and is not interrupted
medianly. The second segment's tergite is tolerably feeble and
short, ends a good way from the lateral margin, and at its ends
a small pleural plate is found. On both segments there is thus
a somewhat large space between the lateral margins of the tergite
and the sternite. As regards the second segment, the third seg-
ment's pleural plate and the lateral part of its tergite form
together a strong solidly chitinized wedge, which fills up the space
mentioned. On the third segment's tergite one sees at the anterior
margin a deep transverse furrow, and in front of this an arched
part, which one would readily take for the posterior part of the
tergite of the second segment— which it is not — as this is situated
in advance thereof as a more feeble short stripe. On the third
to eighth segments the inner part of the Pleuron is only a some-
what narrow membrane, while its chitinized outer plate is very
considerable. The first and second pairs of spiracles are con-
sequent upon the peculiar structure and altered bodily form of
the first segment, transferred considerably above the lateral mar-
gins, and look backwards ; the second pair lie in the tiny pleural
plate a little higher up than the first pair ; the third to eighth
pairs are transferred to the intero-anterior angles of the pleural
plate.
In Memhracis tectigera somewhat comparable circumstances
are found, but here the pleural plates of the third to eighth seg-
ments are separated from the tergite and sternite only by a
THE AUCHBNOKRHYNCHOUS HOMOPTERA. 235
feeble suture without proper membrane. Mthalion reticulatmn
accords, discounted by tolerably small peculiarities, essentially
with Tettigonia in the structure of the first two segments, and in
the situation of their spiracles ; on the other hand, they agree
essentially with Ceutrotus in the structure of the pleura of the
third to eighth segments, and in the situation of their spiracles.
Ledra aurita, on the contrary, agrees in all essentials with
Tettigonia.
4. Fulgoriche. — The peculiar structural characters of this
family are simplest and easiest to study in one of the large
forms — for example, a species of the subgenus Fulgora — and a
species of this genus is for that reason the basis of the following
observations.
The tergite of the first segment, which is medianly indistinct
and short, is laterally longer and well chitinized, and terminates
a little from the lateral margin of the abdomen, which is mem-
branous, externally limited and- coalesced with a posterior and
somewhat outivardly directed lateral part of the metanotum ; the
sternite is everywhere very short, but well chitinized, and extends
right out to the lateral margins. The tergite of the second seg-
ment is broad medianly, and shortens considerably laterally up
to the vanishing point, before it reaches right out to the lateral
margins ; the sternite is everywhere tolerably short, not very
strongly chitinized, and does not reach right out to the segment's
lateral margins, which are entirely membranous, but very short,
as the pleura of the third segment and the outer part of its tergite
extend forward as a — taken together — considerable oblique tri-
angular formation on the lateral parts of the abdomen. The
sternites of the first and second segments, together with a large
part of that of the third segment, are covered, as seen from below, •
by the posterior coxae and trochanters. The dorsal tergites of
the third to eighth segments reach, as usual, out to the lateral
margins, whereas their sternites (of which the eighth is modified
for the service of the genitalia) extend somewJiat farther out later-
ally than in the above families. The pleura are broad, and con-
sist of a loiver, ivell developed, but, however, not especially broad
{in Fulgora ventral) chitinous plate, and a usually broader, upper,
lateral part, ivhich may be noted as typically membranous, appears
as such in many forms (for example, Megamehis, Issus), but in
Fidgora presents a somewhat irregularly formed, strongly chiti-
nized portion near its lower margin.
The first pair of abdominal spiracles lies on the ventral part of
the segment in front, and partly exterior to the end parts of the first
segment's tergite, and behind and within the backwardly directed
lateral parts of the metanotum ; this is in Fulgora considerable
and transverse. The second pair of spiracles also lies ventrcdly at
a very considerable distance from the lateral margins behind
the lateral part of the first tergite, thus more approaching the
236 THE ENTOMOLOCtIST.
insect's middle plane than the first pair does ; it is a little larger
than the latter, and also transverse. The third to eighth pairs lie
at the side of the insect in the membranous part of the pleuron
close to their solid chitinization ; they consist of oblique, apically
downwards inclining fissures, and are all large, the first three
pairs the biggest, and about the size of the dorsally-situated
second pair.*
Deviations from this dorsal structure in the other Fulgoridse
examined by me appear to be tolerably feeble, and of subordinate
significance. Some more essential examples may be mentioned.
In Arceopus crassicornis the first and second pairs of spiracles
are proportionately importantly smaller, and (as it seems) shorter
and broader than in Fulgora ; their situations with regard to the
outer part of the metanotum, and with regard to one another,
are the same ; the third to eighth pairs lie in the solid part of
the pleuron, which here, on account of the breadth of the
sternites, looks laterally just like the upper membranous part.
In Euryhrachys sp. the third to eighth pleura are very broad, but
a chitinized lower part is not particularly developed— at least the
pleura are everywhere membranous without special differentiation
in the quality of the skin. In T'ettigometra costulata the second
tergite has nearest to the lateral margins a very considerable
length, and its ovate spiracle lies in the tergite itself; but the
relative situations of this and the first pair are as in Fulgora ;
the spiracles of the third to seventh pairs lie a little inwardly in
the solid part (of the pleura), which turns obliquely outwards
and downwards ; on the eighth segment the solid spiraculiferous
pleural part is coalesced with the sternite. The peculiar Flatidae,
with elevated compressed abdomen, accord essentially with the
medium-sized Fulgoridae.
A resume of this well-marked family may be stated as follows :
the dorsal situation of the first and second pairs of sjnracles, the
location of the first pair in the angle of the metanotum, the
looking outwards essentially or totally of the third to eighth
pairs of spiracles situated in the pleura, which are either in great
part or totally lateral, and consist of an upper essentially or
quite membranous part, and a lower portion, which is mostly
strongly chitinized.
=- Judging from observations on thesellateral spiracles in Cahjptoproctus,
their structure is very peculiar, but I have reason to believe that their forma-
tion is not uniform in the different forms of Fulgoridae ; so that I entirely
omit a description here, as I am not able to make it complete.
(To be continued.)
237
ON SOME NEW GENERA AND SPECIES OF HYMENO-
PTERA (ICHNEUMONID^, CHRYSIDID^, FOSSORES,
AND APID^).
By p. Cameron.
(Continued from p. 208.)
SCOLIID^.
TiPHiA SPINOSA, sp n.
Nigra, alis flavo-hyalinis, nervis fuscis, stigmate nigro ; metanoto
striolato ; petiolo subtus spinoso ; mandibulis palpisque nigris. <? .
Long. 12 mm.
Hab. Khasia Hills (coll. Rothney).
Antenn£e short, stout ; the scape closely and distinctly punctured,
sparsely covered with fuscous hair ; the flagellum covered with a pale
microscopic down. Front closely, strongly, and uniformly punctured ;
the vertex has the punctures more irregularly distributed, larger and
more widely separated ; both are thickly covered with white hair.
Clypeus closely punctured, and thickly covered with white hair ; in
the middle is a slight incision, Mandibles black, shining ; the base
closely punctured, thickly covered with silvery hair ; the palpi dark
testaceous. Pronotum closely and strongly punctured, its apex
smooth ; behind the basal keel obscurely longitudinally striated.
Mesonotum with large deep moderately widely separated punctures ; the
scutellums are similarly punctured. On the median segment are
three keels ; the central is straight, the outer more irregular ; the
space between them is strongly shagreened, and irregularly trans-
versely striated ; the space outside them is irregularly reticulated and
striated ; on the apex are three short stout keels, the inner of which
does not reach to the transverse apical keel ; the outer converge at the
base. The apex is coarsely shagreened, irregularly reticulated, and
round the edges striated ; the keel bounding the top is stouter than
usual ; on the sides near the middle, extending half on to the notum
and half on to the pleurse, is a large deep ovate depression with raised
sides ; inside it is shagreened. Propleune closely striated ; the top
punctured, the apex smooth ; mesopleurae strongly but not closely
punctured ; metapleurse strongly striated ; the base largely and deeply
excavated on the upper part, the lower part strongly shagreened.
Mesosternum rather strongly but not closely punctured, thickly covered
with a pale pubescence, and with long fuscous hair ; the middle has a
broad rounded furrow. Legs thickly covered with silvery pubescence ;
the spines rufous. The radius has an oblique slope at the base ; the
second transverse cubital nervure has a rounded outwardly curved
slope ; the first recurrent nervure is rounded outwardly at the top, and
is received almost in the middle of tbe nervure. The petiole is strongly
but not closely punctured at the apex ; the base of the second segment
has a narrow strongly and closely striated depression ; the other seg-
ments are punctured, the punctures becoming stronger and closer
towards the apex ; the apical segments are thickly covered with pale
pubescence. The base of the first ventral segment bears a stout
238 THE ENTOMOLOGIST.
curved, somewhat triangular, spine ; the apical part of the segment is
strongly shagreened ; on the sides are two or three large irregular
fovere ; the apex is furrowed and stoutly longitudinally striated. The
pygidium is coarsely punctured; the epipygium is coarsely punctured,
with a smooth shining band in the middle ; the ventral segments are
fringed with bright golden hair.
A species easily known by the tooth on the base of the petiole,
by the stoutly transversely striated middle of metanotum, and
by the stoutly striated base of the second abdominal segment.
TiPHIA CURVINERVIS, Sp. nOV.
Long. 14 mm. 5 .
Hah. Khasia Hills (coll. Eothney).
Agrees closely in form and coloration with T.fidvincrins, but
is smaller ; may readily be separated from it by the second
transverse cubital nervure being roundly curved at the top, the
whole nervure being of the shape of a reaping-hook.
Scape of antenna thickly covered with long pale fulvous hair ; the
flagellum with a pale pile, its last joints rufous. Front and vertex
strongly and deeply but not very closely punctured, and sparsely
covered with long pale fulvous hair ; the keel over the antennaj is
large, but not stout, and is bluntly conical. Face and clypeus closely
and somewhat strongly punctured ; the apex and the middle of the
clypeus smooth. Mandibles rufous in the middle, fringed below with
long pale golden hair. The basal slope of the pronotum is closely and
distinctly punctured ; the basal half of the upper part bears large deep
punctures ; the apical is smootli ; the whole is thickly covered with
long white hair. Mesonotum bearing large deep scattered punctures,
the sides impunctate in the middle. iScutellum with some large deep
punctures on the apex; the post-scutellum similarly punctured at the
base Median segment coarsely shagreened, more strongly between
the keels ; of these there are three ; the outer are curved outwardly at
the base ; the inner reaches near to the apex ; the oblique slope is
strongly shagreened, is thickly covered with a short white pile, and is
irregularly punctured and striated round the edges. PropleurtB longi-
tudinally striated ; above the strife are thinner, more irregular, and
are intermixed with punctures. Mesopleurae rugosely punctured,
thickly covered with white pubescence. Metapleurte closely striated,
except at the base, which is broadly shagreened. Basal half of the
mesonotum strongly punctured ; the apical smooth ; the apical area
narrowed at the base, the narrowed part deeply furrowed ; there is a
triangular depression in the middle at the base ; the sides have a few
punctures. Legs thickly covered with glistening silvery hairs ; the
spines are rufous. Wings fulvo-hyaliiie, the hinder pair paler at the
apex and behind ; the nervures and stigma are fulvous. The base of the
radius is straight, and has an oblique slope ; the upper half of the
second transverse cubital nervure has a round outward curve ; the
lower half is almost straight, oblique ; the first transverse cubital
nervure has a rounded outward curve at the top ; the second has an
oblique slope, and is received near the base of the apical third.
SOME NEW OENERA AND SPECIES OF HYMENOPTERA. 239
Abciomen shining, sparsely punctiired ; the apical segments thickly
covered with long white hair ; the basal half of the pygidium is strongly
punctured, and is thickly covered with long pale fulvous hair ; the apex
is smooth, rufous, and is keeled down the middle ; the epipygium is
closely and finely punctured.
TiPHIA BICARINATA, Sp. IIOV.
Nigra, punctata, longe hirsuta ; alls fusco-violaceis ; metanoto
bicarinato. 3'' Long. 16 mm.
Hab. Japan (George Lewis).
This species is larger than any of the recorded Japanese
species, from which it differs (as it does also from the Indian) in
having only two keels on the median segment.
Scape of the antenna) shining, bearing large deep punctures and
long pale fulvous hairs ; the basal three joints of the flagellum shining,
thickly covered with glistening fulvous hair ; the rest of the flagellum
opaque, covered with a dull pale down. Front and vertex closely and
strongly punctured ; there is a smooth space on the outer side of the
hinder ocelli, which is continued across behind them by a space having
only a few small punctures ; the part immediately behind the ocelli is
strongly punctured. Front thickly covered with long, the vertex with
shorter, fuscous hair ; in front of the ocelli there is a smooth space-
somewhat dagger-shaped in form — broad at" the base, narrowed and
sharply pointed at the apex. Clypeus smooth and shining in the
middle ; the base and sides shagreened. Mandibles broadly piceous in
the middle ; the lower side fringed with long pale golden hair at the
base. The pronotum on the perpendicular base closely punctured,
except on the lower side in the middle ; the upper part coarsely punc-
tured, except a broad somewhat curved space at the base. The middle
of the mesonotum is slightly depressed, closely and coarsely punctured,
the sides are bordered by a row of large deep punctures, closely united
together, followed inwardly by a row of larger ones, fewer in number,
and more widely separated ; inside of these again is a smooth space,
with a large puncture near its centre. Scutellum closely punctured at
base and apex, the middle smooth. Median segment shagreened,
opaque, finely longitudinally aciculated at the apex ; in the middle are
two stout keels, which hardly converge towards the centre. The base
of the propleurfe bears moderately large punctures, closely united
together at the extreme base, widely separated and scattered over the
rest ; the lower half is closely obliquely striated, the strias somewhat
coarser towards the apex ; the whole shining. Mesopleurfe strongly
punctured, opaque, thickly covered with long white hair. In the
middle of the metapleur^e is a shallow curved furrow ; the upper part
at the base strongly obliquely striated ; the lower smooth, very finely
striated ; the apex is also finely striated. Legs black, the projection
on the apices of the femora piceous ; the cox^, trochanters, and
femora smooth, sparsely covered with soft white hair ; the fore tibias
slightly, the four posterior very thickly, covered with white hair ;
coarsely punctured on the outer, smooth on the inner side ; the outer
row of broad spines pale and fulvous ; the calcaria testaceous. The
petiole shining, smooth, covered with long fuscous hair, more sparsely
240
THE ENTOMOLOOIS'l,
towards the apex ; the second and third segments sparsely and shal-
lowly punctured : the fourth much more coarsely and closely ; the fifth
rugosely punctured ; the pygidium coarsely longitudinally striated,
intermixed with some coarse punctures ; its apex finely, closely, longi-
tudinally striated. The basal ventral segment punctured at the base ;
the second coarsely, the others more finely and closely punctured ; the
second smooth ; the third and fourth aciculated at the base ; the last
rugosely punctured. Wings fusco-hyaline ; the nervures and stigma
deep black.
POMPILIDiE.
Salius himalayensis, sp. nov.
Niger, capite thoraceque dense aureo pilosis ; pleuris brunneis ;
apice abdominis late rufis ; pedibus rufis, coxis trochanteribusque
brunneis ; alls flavo-hyalinis. ? . Long. 15 mm.
Hab. Khasia (coll. Eothney).
A species closely related to S. flavus. The differences between
the two may be best shown in synoptical form : —
Second cubital cellule at the top distinctly shorter than
the first ; the pleurae and median segment black ; the
femora broadly black at the base ... ... ... flavus.
Second cubital cellule equal in length to the first ; the
pleurjB and median segment brownish ; the femora
without black ... ... ... ... ... ... Jdmalayensis.
AntennaB pale fulvous, the scape darker in tint. Head dark ferru-
ginous ; the vertex, front, and face densely covered with golden
pubescence, the face bearing also some long rufous hairs. The apex
of the clypeus is broadly rounded, closely punctured, except on the
extreme apex. Mandibles dark ferruginous, the teeth black, the
extreme base covered with depressed golden pubescence. The greater
part of the prothorax and the mesonotum densely covered with de-
pressed golden pile ; scutellum minutely punctured, and covered with
rufous hair. Median segment irregularly transversely striated, sparsely
covered with black hair ; the base and apex black ; the middle with a
wide shallow furrow. The propleurfe are of a brighter colour than the
meso- ; the metapleurae darker ; the mesopleural furrow is narrow ;
the metapleurte irregularly obliquely striated. Legs ferruginous ; the
coxffi blackish behind ; the tarsi are paler ; the hinder femora darker.
Wings yellowish hyaline ; the apex slightly infuscated; the first and
second cubital cellules are equal in length on the top. Abdomen
black, shining ; the apical two segments ferruginous, and thickly
covered with long rufous hairs.
POMPILUS SETABIS, Sp. nOV.
Black, the under side of the scape white, of the basal joints of the
flagellum brown ; the apex of the median segment densely covered
with white pubescence ; wings hyaline, the apex smoky ; the third
cubital cellule petiolated. c? . Long. 8 mm.
Hab. Borneo.
AntennaB stout ; the apical joints of the flagellum roundly dilated ;
the basal three joints brownish ; the scape for the greater part white
NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS. 241
beneath. Head densely covered -with silvery pubescence, thickest on
the front and clypeus. Eyes long, slightly converging above ; the
ocelli are in a curve ; the hinder are separated from each other by a
slightly greater distance than they are from the eyes. Clypeus at the
apex transverse in the middle ; the labrum large, the palpi black.
Thorax densely pruinose ; the apical slope of the median segment is
densely covered with woolly hair, silvery white in colour. Legs
densely pruinose ; the tibial and tarsal spines long and black ; the
calcaria white ; the longer of the hinder pair is two-thirds of the
length of the metatarsus. Wings hyaline ; the apex of both wings
infuscated ; the radial cellule short, wide ; the third cubital cellule is
petiolated ; below it is as long as the second ; the first transverse
cubital nervure is broadly and roundly curved ; the first recurrent
nervure is received close to the transverse cubital ; the second shortly
beyond the middle of the cellule ; the accessory nervure in the hind
wing is received behind the cubital. Abdomen sessile ; the basal seg-
ments densely covered with silvery pubescence ; the apical segment
bluntly pointed.
(To be continued.)
NOTES AND OBSEKVATIONS.
Are Cocoons Waterproof ? — The question is suggested by my
experience of the disastrous rain-storm at Ipswich on July 1st. I
had a chrysalis of Odonestis potatoria in the cocoon on a stem in a tall
glass jar, which stood in a sheltered position near a wall. To my
surprise next morning I found the jar was filled with water to the
depth of five inches (a fact which indicates the greatness of the deluge),
and I concluded the chrysalis was drowned, and threw it aside. Two
days later, when it was dry, curiosity caused me to open the cocoon,
and I found the pupa alive and kicking ! Considering that it must
have been nearly twenty hours under water, I thought the incident
worthy of record, and should be interested to hear of similar experiences.
Claude A. Pyett ; 28, Waterloo Koad, Ipswich.
Ichneumon in Zyg^ena trifolii. — In July, 1901 (when in search of
Aporia cvatccgi), I came across a fresh locality for Z. trifulii, and the
examples appeared to be of a more blotched character than those I
usually get. This year I went to the spot in June in order to collect
a number of cocoons, and to my surprise I found that there were two
distinct sizes, one about one-third the size of the other. In about a
couple of hours I collected 400 cocoons, and after I reached home I
separated the two sizes, and found there were 275 small ones and 125
large ones. Several small larviB (typical trifolii) spun up while in my
possession, and were amongst the 275. I thought there must be two
species, and anxiously waited for their emergence. Alas 1 I was dis-
appointed, for the large cocoons produced very normal Z. trifolii, and
the smaller ones were all ichneumoned, with three exceptions, which
produced very dwarfed trifolii. The percentage of ichneumoned cocoons
(68-75 per cent.) seems exceptionally great, for in another place I
ENTOM. — SEPTEMBER, 1902. U
242 THE ENTOMOLOGIST.
found the cocoons of Z . fdipendu I a very plentifully, and, having col-
lected five hundred in a very short time (getting as many as six on
one stem of grass), only two ichneumon flies emerged, or a percentage
of '04, but unfortunately vars. were represented by a percentage of -000.
Should anyone visiting Margate find that either of these species of
Zijf/mia is a pest, he may blame me for having introduced them in any
numbers. I shall be glad to show anybody interested in ichneumon
flies the two sizes of cocoons. — J. P. Bakrett ; St. John's Villas,
Margate.
PiEBis NAPi Twelve Months in Pupa. — During June last several
specimens of Pieris napi emerged from chrysalids of June, 1901. For
some reason they did not emerge as second brood last year, and their
colouriug is of the spring type. — C. A. Sladen ; The Rectory, Alton
Barnes, Pewsey, Wilts, August 6th, 1902.
PiiUsiA MONETA : A FEW NoTEs AND QuERiEs. — The above species was
first discovered, I believe, in this country in 1890 ; odd specimens were
captured or bred every year in and about the county of Kent by different
collectors and duly recorded, the insect being looked upon as a great
prize. In 1900 a good number of the larvae were discovered and suc-
cessfully bred ; in 1901 a larger quantity of the larvte were found and
more captures recorded, but this season, I think, has eclipsed all pre-
vious records ; it has appeared all over London, practically wherever
its food-plants [Aconitum and Delphinium) are cultivated ; and when one
reviews its career from the time it first appeared, we must admit it has
apparently firmly established itself, at least in Kent ; but will it last ?
I should never be surprised to hear of its sudden disappearance ; there-
fore, on behalf of all concerned, I think it would be most interesting if
some of our brother enthusiasts, older and more experienced than I,
would give us their valuable opinions re this species through the
medium of this Journal. In the meantime, I would strongly advise
those collectors who have not yet got this handsome insect to add it to
their collections while it is— as a friend of mine rightly or wrongly
puts it — so awfully " common " !— A. J. Lawrance ; 65, Malyou Eoad,
Ladywell, S.E., Aug. 16th, 1902.
Gynandrous Akgynnis paphia. — Whilst staying at Brockenhurst,
in the New Forest, last month, I was fortunate enough to capture,
on July 28th, a very good specimen of A. paphia (hermaphrodite). It
was at rest on bramble-blossom, and was quite easily seen, due to the
distinct shades of colour. The right side is male, and the left female ;
each half of head, thorax, and body also corresponds to the sex. —
Herbert Charles ; Woodend, Torringtou Park, North Finchley, Aug.
15, 1902.
Unusual Pairing of Butterflies. — 1 think the following is worth
recording. On July 15th last I found a male Eiiri/tela hiaibus in cop.
with a female Neptis ai/atha. I had not a net with me, but managed
to secure both insects with my hand. I kept the female N. ayatka
alive in the hope of getting some ova, but unfortunately she would not
lay in confinement. Is it not very unusual for two such distinct spe-
cies to pair ? I shall be pleased to know if any other collector in
Africa has ever found these two insects in cop. I may mention that
CAPTURES AND FIELD REPORTS. 243
N. agatha has been unusually abundant here this season, andi?, hiarbas
not nearly so common as during the two previous seasons. — Gr. F.
Leigh ; Heathfield, Sydenham Road, Durban, Natal, July 26th, 1902.
CAPTURES AND FIELD REPORTS.
Lyc^na biinima var. alsoides in Hampshire. — Mr. B. Piffard
reports the capture of this large form of L. minima on the coast near
Lymington, and he has kindly presented a pair to the National Collec-
tion of British Lepidoptera. It should be mentioned that Mr. Piffard
states that there is no chalk or limestone in the district where he
obtained the specimens.
Aporia Crat^gi in Kent. — This butterfly, I am pleased to record,
still survives in my neighbourhood. Early in July I caught a fresh
male on a small patch of clover, which proved to be the " home " of a
batch of the insect, for on subsequent days I very easily took niueteen
more, making exactly a score. I also saw about another score speci-
mens on the "rampage," but at such time A. cratagi is not easy to
capture, for the wind takes it along at a terrific pace, and I can only
account for six examples captured away from the "home"; the
greatest distance between specimens captured was about ten miles. I
am inclined to think the insect is domiciled in the fruit orchards.
I failed to get eggs, though one female, taken in cop., lived over a
fortnight under artificial conditions. I kept two females and a male
together with the proper food-plants and fed them regularly, but to no
purpose. — J. P. Barrett ; 3, St. John's Villas, Margate.
P1ERID.E in London. — In the daily papers one occasionally sees
letters from astonished correspondents recording the appearance of a
butterfly in Loudon. It is doubtful whether these occurrences are
quite as rare as is generally supposed. It may, however, be worth
mentioning that on June 19th, at about 4.30 p.m., I saw a specimen
of Pieris brassiccB in Northumberland Avenue. There was at the time
a strong breeze coming off the river, and, after vainly struggling
towards a plane tree, the butterfly got blown towards Trafalgar Square.
The flowers in the window-boxes at the Metropole had been changed
that morning, and the specimen may have been accidentally imported
with them. I saw another specimen of P. brassiccB in Northumberland
Avenue on June 24th. Earlier in the season I saw, but was not near
enough to identify accurately, a Pieris in St. James's Park. — D. P.
Turner ; 2, Shalston Villas, Surbiton, July, 1902.
Plusia moneta in Hampshire. — Four larvae of P. moneta were taken
here during the last week in May from plants of Dciphiniwn. The
moths successfully emerged between June 28th and July 9th. It
would be interesting to learn in what form this species passes the
winter. It seems reasonable to suppose that the eggs from which
these larvge were produced were laid last July, since the patch of
Delphinium was that over which a specimen of the perfect insect was
244 THE ENTOMOLOGIST.
then taken. But in the autumn the plants die down to the roots, and
in the spring the whole of the surface of the ground was disturbed
several times. It seems difficult, therefore, to imagine how either eggs
or hvbernated larvse could survive. — G. W. Russell ; Portchester,
Hants, July 26th, 1902.
Plusia moneta in Wiltshire. — I have to report the capture of
ChcBrocani pa porceUus and P. moneta at honeysuckle on the evening of
July 17th last. — C. A. Sladen ; The Rectory, Alton Barnes, Pewsey,
Wilts.
Plusia moneta at Winchmore Hill. — On the evening of August 6th
a fine specimen of P. moneta flew into the room where there was an
incandescent light burning. — B. Hicklin ; Cranford, Winchmore Hill.
Plusia moneta in Surrey. — On July 14th a specimen of this moth
was captured flying over DeljiJiinimn. in a garden at Sutton, and for-
warded to me. From that date down to the time of writing (August 1st)
twelve more specimens have been taken in the same garden, the later
captures showing signs of being worn. The species has evidently
" come to stay," and there is perhaps no necessity for further detailed
records. Nevertheless, I venture to forward this record, in order that
the spread of the species throughout the counties may be noted for
future reference. I may add that two of the specimens have laid
eggs, and that an attempt will be made to feed up the larvfe when
they hatch. — R. Meldola ; 6, Brunswick Square, W.C, Aug. 1st, 1902.
CoLiAS edusa in Essex, 1902. — On August 10th, a very hot day,
three C. edusa were seen, and one of these was captured. — Richard J.
Fitch ; Brick House, Maldon, Essex.
Lasiocampa QUERciFOLiA IN LoNDON. — On July 29th I took a fine
female specimen of this moth, resting on a window-frame of a re-
staurant in the Euston Road, N.W., about 10.45 p.m. On arriving
home, a few minutes later, I found it had already deposited about a
dozen eggs. As the moth was so fresh I killed it, thinking that the
ova would be infertile. To my surprise, on August 12th I found nine
larvfE had hatched, and these are feeding all right up to the present. —
H. Perks; 43, Charlotte Street, Portland Place, W., Aug. 17th, 1902.
Rhodoph^iEA FORMOSA AND Oncocera ahenella IN Herts. — Amoiig
some Lepidoptera sent to me for identification by Mr. Philip J.
Barraud, of Bushey Heath, were three specimens of R. formosa and
one male example of 0. ahenella. — Richard South.
Chrosis bifasciana in Surrey. — So far as I am aware, Reigate
and Haslemere are the only localities in Surrey from which this
species has previously been recorded. On July 12th last, whilst
netting a few specimens of Batodes angustiorana at Box Hill, I secured
one example of C. bifasciana {audouinana). — Richard South; 96, Drake-
field Road, Upper Tooting, S.W.
Pionea (Ebulea) stachydalis in Surrey. — I took two examples of
this species in the Esher district on July 18th last. They were dis-
turbed from herbage amoug which were a good many plants of Stachys
syIvatica.^B.icB.AT.B South.
CAPTURES AND FIELD REPORTS. 245
The Butterflies of the Witherslack District. — In one of the
Lancaster local papers there appeared recently a short article stating
that nearly all the British butterflies occurred at or in the vicinity of
Witherslack, Westmoreland. A list of the different species which do
occur in that district will no doubt be interesting, and serve as a guide
for intending entomological visitors. No less than thirty-nine species
occur or have been taken in the neighbourhood, out of a grand total
of seventy-two. This is undoubtedly a fine list for one locality,
especially when we consider that, of the remaining thirty-three species,
fourteen are either very rare or only occasional visitors to our shores —
e. g. A. cratiBiji, P. daplidice, C. hyale, A. latona, A. niohe, A. dia,
M. didyma, V. (mtiopa, V. virginiensis, D. enp'jms, 8. liyea, P. virgaurecR,
L. bcetica, and L. acis, while one, C. dispar, is practically extinct, and
eight are local, — P. iiiachaon, M. einxia, A. iris, L. priini, L. avion,
H. lineola, H. actceon, and C. paliBmon.
The following is a complete list of the Rhopalocera of Witherslack
and district : —
Pieris brassiccB, P. rapa, and P. napi. Common everywhere.
Euchlo'e cardamines. Common, end of May, in the lanes, Grange,
Methop, Witherslack, &c.
Leucophasia sinapis. Common, near Witherslack and at Methop ;
only one brood, end of May.
Colias ednsa. Common at intervals, in " edusa years."
Gonepteryx rhumni. Common in lanes about Witherslack.
Aryynnis selene. This species was formerly common on a piece of
waste swampy ground near Witherslack, but cultivation and drainage
are gradually stamping it out.
A. euphrosyne. Common, beginning of June.
A. aylaia. Not common, occurs about Witherslack sparingly ; at
Warton Crag it is fairly common, also on Arnside Knofct.
A. adippe. Common during July and beginning of August.
A. paphia. Rare; I took one specimen near Witherslack last
year — a record. This was no doubt introduced with farm produce.
Vanessa polychloros. Rare ; one specimen taken by myself last year.
The same remark applies to this as to ^. paphia, vide supra.
V. urtictB. Common everywhere.
V. io. Abundant. This is the commonest butterfly about in August.
V. atalanta. Fairly common.
V. cardiii. Not quite so plentiful as F. atalanta.
Erehia epiphrun. Common on the Langdale Pikes, Helvellyn, &c.
E. athiops. Common, beginning of August.
Pararge meycBva. Common, May, June, July, and August, sunning
itself on the walls.
Satyrm semele. Common, end of July and beginning of August,
on rocky ground.
Epiiiephele ianira. No remarks needed.
E. tithonus. Odd specimens have been taken, but this species is
rare ; the nearest locality is near Heysham, on the Overton Road ;
end of July and beginning of August.
E. hyperanthm. Was formerly common in Maud's Wood, near
Grange, but a hydro now stands there, and the grounds are enclosed
and private. It has been taken near Kendal, but is evidently scarce.
246 THIS ENTOMOLOGIST.
Ccenonympha davus. Very common, end of June to mid-July, on
all the mosses.
C. pawpJdlns. Vide E. ianira.
Thecla betulcB. Local ; occurs on the Silverdale road, beginning of
September.
T. qucrcm. Common about the oaks on Arnside Knott, mid-July.
T. ruhi. Common during May.
Chrysophanus phlceas. Common, odd specimens, everywhere.
Lycmia agestis. Fairly common, also var. salmacis.
L. icarus. Common; the second brood in September is diminutive.
L. corydon. Formerly common near Arnside Tower ; also occurs
on W^arton Crag.
L. argiolus. Common ; only one brood, end of May.
L. minima. Local ; I only know of one locality, on the roadside,
near the ' Derby Arms,' Witherslack.
Nemeobms lucina. Common, near Grange, end of May.
Nisoniades tages. Common on most of the heaths.
Hesperia sylvanus. Common. — C. H. Forsythe ; Lancaster.
Five Days' Collecting at Deal. — Arrived at Deal on the morning
of June 25th for five days. I was met at the station by a trap, which
was to take me to my destination, Martinsfield, which is two and a
half miles from the station, and is situated in the middle of the Deal
sandhills. As we drove along I noticed a very large pair of Cerura
vinula on a telegraph pole. After lunch I started off in quest of Calli-
morpha dominula, but was at first unsuccessful in finding the exact
locality, which was not discovered until we again visited the spot on
the next day. The larvae were then found fairly commonly, feeding
on nettle, bramble, sloe, and several low plants, though the majority
were on the first two.
Porthesia chrysorrlicea larvae were abundant on blackthorn, and
single examples were also taken all round Deal. P. similis was not
nearly as common as its usually far rarer relative. Larvffi of Malacosoma
neustria were abundant on fruit trees at Worth and Sandwich, and
odd larvfe of L. quercns were also picked up. The full-grown larvffi
and cocoons of Anthrocera JilipenduhE, were very thick, both on the
chalk at Kingsdown and in a certain spot on the sandhills ; whilst
two freshly emerged A. trifolii were also obtained. The much-eaten
mallow produced larvae of Euholia cervinata, but searching for Ciicidlia
verbasci produced only two small larvfe on Scrophularia (figwort), which
was very abundant in the ditches on the sandhills and near Sandwich,
where the larvae were taken.
The most notable butterflies were Pyrameis cardui and Cupido
minima ; the first-named was quite common, but, of course, in very
poor condition. As for C. minima, it abounded on the chalk around
Kingsdown and Martin Mill. Five or six were often to be seen in
company flying over low bramble bushes in some sheltered corner.
Those taken were mostly in perfect condition. I have never known
the species anything like so common before. Other butterflies noticed
were Pieris brassiccB, P. rupee, Vanessa urtica (also larvae of all sizes),
V. atalanta, Epinephele ianira, Ccenonympha pamphilus, Polyommatiis
phlteas, Cyayiiris argiolus, Lyccena icarus, L. adonis (a few males in grand
condition), Thanaos tages, and Hesperia sylvanus.
CAPTURES AND FIELD REPORTS. 247
The posts forming the uprights of the post and rail fences, so
common in this part of the country, were well worth searching,
especially for Nocture. At Kingsdown, Hecatera serena was the com-
monest moth taken in this way, whilst on the sandhills, where Silene
is not so much in evidence, Cucullia umhratica was an easy first, about
twenty being taken in an hour, and nearly all in first-rate condition.
Other species thus obtained were Diantluccia coiispersa (one at Kings-
down), Mamestra biassica, M. albicolon, M. anceps, Xi/lophasia polyodon,
X. lithoxijlea, Apamea gemina, Hadena dentina (abundant), H. oleracea,
H. fjenistoi (one), and Hepialus lupidinus.
A few Arctia villica were met with, and other insects taken or
noticed by day-work were Dianthcecia capsincola, Aplecta nebulosa (one),
Plusia gamma (ta^ivly common), EucUdla mi, Phytometra cenea, Spilosoma
lubricipeda, Melanthia ocellata, Melanippe galiata (Kingsdown), M. mon-
tanata (Martin Mill), M. subtrlstata, Camptogramma bilineata, Acidalia
oniata, A. marginepunctata (one only, at Kingsdown), Asthena candidata,
Cabera pusaria, Metrocampa margaritaria (Worthj, Cidaria truncata,
Lomaspilis margmata, Phibalapteryx vitalbata (near Sandwich and Martin
Mill), Eupithecla rectangulata (two, Deal and Worth), Pionea forjicalis,
Pyralis costalis, P yrausta pur puralis , Eurrhypara urticata, Scopula olivalis,
Ebuleacrocealis, Cataclysta lemnata (abundant, Sandwich), Scoparia dubi-
talis (abundant), and Botys pandalis.
At night we treacled rows of posts on the sandhills. The first
night turned out a blank, and, though there was a somewhat strong
north-easterly wind on the other nights, there were plenty of insects at
the sugar, especially on the last night. They were mostly, however,
of the commonest. As soon as the treacle was on, and before it was
quite dark, Cluerocampa porcellus turned up in grand condition, but
only two of them. The following were also attracted : — Agrotis excla-
matiunis (far and away the commonest moth), A. curticea and .-J. segetum
(both scarce), Xylupliasia polyodon, X. suhlastria (one), Leucania comma
(abundant and fine), L. pallens, Mamestra brassicce, M. albicolon (at first
mistaken for brassiae and passed over, but afterwards we obtained
about a dozen, mostly in fine condition), M. anceps, Miana strigilis
(dark forms with some reddish markings), M.fasciwiciila, Grammesia
trigrammica, Apamea gemina (not common), TriphcBua pronuba, Hadena
chenopodii, PL. oleracea, and a few Cacullia umhratica, which I believe
is not generally taken at sugar. Last, but not least, a fine Neuria
reticulata. Light attracted, among commoner things, Arctia villica.
The Odonata were not particularly interesting, only seven species
being noticed — viz. Libellula quadrimaculata and L. depressa (one of
each), Brachytron pratense, Platycnemis pennipes, Pyrrhosomanympliala,
Agrion puella (abundant), and Ischnura elegans (abundant).
A few species of Coleoptera were taken. The best were single
specimens of the fine Molytes germanus (Kingsdown), and Harpalus
subulicola. The following were also obtained : — Harpalus ruficornis,
Donacia sericea, D. lemnce, D. linearis (the last three near Sandwich on
Iris), Otiorrhynchus atroapteriis (in the sand), Cneorrhinus geminatus,
Crypticus quisqailius, Dascilliis cervinus, ]\[alachius viridis, Pyrochroa
serraticornis, and Leptura livida. Larvae of Hypera variabilis were
abundant on lucerne at Kingsdown, but beetles were not seriously
worked. — F. M. B. Carr ; 46, Handen Road, Lee, S.E.
248 THE ENTOMOLOGIST.
RECENT LITERATURE.
Economic. — -Mr. W. J. Lucas has written the first entomological
leaflet in the " Nature-Knowledge " series, issued by the Agricultural
Education Committee. It deals with the Lace-wing fly (Chri/sopa
perla), and is briglitly and simply written ; it should prove a valuable
inducement to children for the acquisition of "nature-knowledge."
("Lace-wing or Golden-eye." "Nature-Knowledge" Leaflets, no. 9.
3 pp. ; 3 figs. [No date.] )
Bhyncliota. — Herbert Osboen notes an interesting case of mimicry
presented by the South African Tetigoniid Cephalelus infumatus, a
species described some seventy years ago. The insect "is a little
over half an inch long, of a brown colour, and has a remarkably pro-
longed head, which anteriorly tapers out into a very long spine. This
prolonged head is almost one half the total length of the insect. The
body is slender, and the wings terminate posteriorly, somewhat abruptly,
but in such a manner that they fit very perfectly upon the stem of the
plant which is its ordinary food. The protective feature comes in from
the aborted leaf-sheaths on the stem of the plant, forming sharp spines
occurring at intervals along the length of the stem, and these are
perfectly reproduced in the form and colour of the insect. So close
is the resemblance that, when a number of the spines are mounted
separately alongside of the insects, it is very difticult to distinguish
them without the most careful scrutiny." Cephalelus " lives on the
rush Buvea tectorum, Masters, the spines of which are mimicked."
(1902: 'Psyche,' p, 327.)
Neuroptem. — V. L. Kellogg discusses the phylogeny of the Mallo-
phaga, and calls attention to an earlier paper published by him in 1896
("New Mallophaga, &c.," inContrib. to Biol, from Hopkins Seaside
Lab., vii. ; 117 pp., 14 Plates). From evidence based upon the struc-
ture, principally of the mouth-parts and, in a less degree, of the internal
organs, the author concludes that the Mallophaga are degenerate
Psocidas, the wingless Atropos forming an important link. (1902 :
'Psyche,' ix., pp. 339-43, " Are the Mallophaga degenerate Psocids ? ")
G. W. K.
OBITUARY.
Mr. J. B. Williamson died at Slough on June 21st last, at the
age of seventy-four years. The present writer had known him for
over ten years, and esteemed his friendship very highly. He Avas
by profession an artist, and formerly a frequent exhibitor in the
Academy, principally in water-colour. He was first led to take up
entomology on account of the assistance the wing-colouring of the
Lepidoptera gave him in the study of colour and in designing. He
formed a very fine collection of British Lepidoptera, but owing to
failing health he had been unable for some years to keep in touch with
other entomologists, though there are still many readers of the ' Ento-
mologist' who will remember him. — E. S. C.
Entomologist, October, 1902.
Plate III.
THE ENTOMOLOGIST
Vol. XXXV.] OCTOBER, 1902. [No. 473.
MERIANIA ARGENTIFERA, Meig., A TACHINID NEW
TO BRITAIN.
By Colbran J. Wainweight, F.E.S.
(Plate III.)
Amongst a few Diptera sent to me for identification by Mr. .
W. J. Lucas in the early part of this year, I found a specimen
of this species, which, so far as I know, is quite new to the
British list. Novelties are by no means uncommon in this com-
paratively little-known family ; at the same time, I was interested
in recognizing such a well-characterized and handsome species,
and, as Mr. Lucas has prepared very excellent drawings of the
fly, and of the side view of its head, some account of it may be
generally interesting.
The Tachinidfe form a very large group of the Cahjptrate
Muscidce, nearly allied to the common " blue-bottles," and in-
cluding the very abundant and familiar Sarcophagidae, or flesh-
flies. Many of the species are parasitic upon other insects, and
in consequence some of them have made themselves unpleasantly
known to breeders of Lepidoptera, who have found them in their
breeding cages in place of the expected and more desired butterfly
or moth.
We have in this country a quite uncertain number of species,
probably about three hundred, and possibly many more. Owing
'to the fact that they are mostly very much alike, and the specific
distinctions minute and often indefinite, they have received very
little attention, and consequently are little known ; and a number
of species undoubtedly remain undetected and unidentified. More-
over, those that are known are often little understood — their
limits indeterminate and their nomenclature in a muddle. New
names and new species, therefore, are more nearly the rule than
ENTOM. — OCTOBER, 1902. X
250
THE ENTOMOLOGIST.
the exception in tins group. Meriania argentifera, Meig., is,
however, more than usually clearly defined, and is rather a fine
insect, as will be judged from Mr. Lucas's drawing.
The genus Meriania was founded by Eobineau Desvoidy, or
rather the name was created by him, in his ' Essai sur les
Myodaires,' 1830. Whether his names should ever be adopted
at all is a question, and how they are ever identified with any-
thing is a wonder to me. He monographed the whole of the big
family of Muscidcs {sens, lat.), and only very occasionally deigned
to notice anyone else's work. He renamed everything, genera
and species alike ; he split up genera and species so that in
many cases a genus represented a species, and was of the value
of a species only, and the included species were only the various
sexes and forms of the one species ; and he characterized all so
feebly that they seem to me quite unrecognizable, as a rule.
However, Brauer and von Bergenstamm, in their ' Vorarbeiten
zu einer Monographie der Muscaria Schizometopa (exclusive
Anthomyiidae),' the most important work on the Tachinidae yet
published, revive his name Meriania for this genus. Brauer and
Bergenstamm give argentifera, Meig., as the type. Of the three
species (all new names) placed by Eobineau Desvoidy in his genus,
however, silvatica and horealis are both definitely identified with
puparum, F,, by Macquart in the ' Annales de la Soc. Entom. de
France,' 1848, p. 122 ; and the other one is a Cape species ; so
that it seems to me that puparum, F., should be the typical
species, and argentifera cannot be, as it was not in the original
genus at all.
Eondani, in his * DipterologifB Italicse Prodromus,' vol. i.,
p. 64, and vol. iii., p. 74, creates a genus Platychira, quoting
pupa7'um, F., as the tj^pe, and including other species — radicmn,
F., strenua, Meig., &c. — which are now recognized as abundantly
distinct. This genus was constituted practically in the same
manner as the genus afterwards familiar as Nemorcea, and as it
is cotypical with Meriania, E.D., the name must go at once as
a useless synonym.
Schiner, Macquart, Verrall (in his first * List of British Di-
ptera '), and others recognized a big genus, Nemorcea (another
name of Eobineau Desvoidy, is used, however, in a much wider
sense than he intended), and merged puparum into it. The name
by which it is familarly known, therefore, is Nemorcea puparum.
This genus contained a number of closely allied common species
distinct from puparum ; and that species, together with its close
ally argentifera, always formed a section apart, distinguished at
once from all the others by their hairy cheeks. Finally, Brauer
and Bergenstamm, in the work already referred to, showed how
different they were, and removed them not only to another genus,
for which the name Platychira, Edi., was first adopted (part i.,
p. 86), afterwards changed to Meriania, E. D. (part iii., p. 112),
MEKIANIA ARGENTIFERA. 251
but also finally placed them in a distinct section, far away from
the true Nemoma species, calling the section Platijchira ; and
Verrall, in his revised ' List of British Diptera,' published 1902,
accepts the name Meriania, and gives pu2)arum, F., as the one
British representative. Plaiychira, with its single genus Meriania,
is well characterized by the facts that the facial angles (a) stand
well above the mouth edge {h), which projects between them;
that the cheeks (c) are very hairy, as well as the eyes ; that the
third antennal joint {d) is short and broad, and but little longer
than the second (c) ; and that the female has its fore tarsi
flattened out. The other characters of venation, &c., which
are less distinctive, can be gathered from Mr. Lucas's excellent
drawings.
N. puparum, F., has been known as British since Walker's
time, but, so far as my knowledge goes, seems to be always rare.
I have never met with it mj^self, and only possess one British
specimen, a fine large male taken at Holmbury last April by
Dr. T. A. Chapman. This particular specimen is fully 6 lines
long, and is larger than any of my Continental types. It is a
handsome, robust-looking insect ; the general colour brown, with
the scutellum and the sides of the second and third abdominal
segments red, with interrupted white shimmering bands occupy-
ing the fore half of the second to the fourth abdominal segments ;
the head dark greenish brown, with a golden shimmer on the
lower parts, and the usual dark line on the frons ; the palpi are
yellow ; the antennae and legs all black ; the whole insect very
hairy, with discal and marginal macrochetge on the abdominal
segments, the remaining characters being the same as shown in
the drawing of argentifera.
N. argentifera, Meig., seems to be a smaller insect. The one
male taken by Mr. Lucas is barely 4^- lines long, and looks about
half the size of Dr. Chapman's piip)aruin. I expect, however,
that as a rule the difference is not great, and, of course, in the
Tachinidge, size is of little, if any, value for specific distinctions.
The principal difference between puparum and argentifera is that
in the former species the hairs on the cheeks (c), and many of
those on the chins (/) and back of the head {g), are pale (Schiner
says white, but in mine they are golden, and I expect they are
always so in fresh specimens), whilst in argentifera they are black
throughout. Other differences are, that in argentifera the general
colour is more blue-black than brown, and the white shimmering
bands on the abdominal segments are very faint, and only to be
seen plainly at the sides. Schiner says that the forehead in the
male of argentifera is wider than in puparum, taking up "almost
one-third of the whole head-width " ; it is certainly a little wider
in Mr. Lucas's specimen than in puparum, but not much, and
certainly does not take up one-fifth of the total head- width.
Schiner also says that the red on the abdomen is less noticeable
x2
252 THE ENTOMOLOGIST.
in argentifera, but in these two specimens I have before me there
is little difference in that respect. The red abdominal markings
in the Tachinidae are, however, always very variable, and of
little specific value.
Mr. Lucas obtained his specimen in the New Forest, on
April 30th, this year. Both species of Meriania appear to be
always early spring insects, and possibly for this reason have
been overlooked, as few Diptera appear so early in the year, and
dipterists are accordingly not often out collecting them. Schiner
says that they occur " in the earliest spring, on sunny tree-
trunks, and like to sport with one another and with other
Muscidce.'" Brauer records the breeding of argentifera from a
lepidopteron, Mesogona oxalina, Hb. ; and imparum has been
bred from Panolis pijiiperda, Pz.
I have to thank Mr. Lucas for kindly presenting me with
the, at present, unique British specimen.
ON THE LARVA OF LIPHYRA BRASSOLIS, Westw.
By Dr. T. A. Chapman, F.E.S.
(Concluded from p. 228.)
Perhaps the most remarkable thing about this remarkable
larva is the modification which has affected the prolegs. When
we examine the soft under side of the larva, the head, true legs,
and prolegs are seen very much as in the young larva ; the head,
however, is nearly white, and so are the true legs, except the
tarsal tips.
Beginning at the margin of the dorsal shield where it sets
down on the surface on which the larva may be resting, we find
that the shagreened jjoints of the general surface carry hairs of
various lengths, some almost evanescent, others nearly "25 mm.
long ; these no doubt assist in making the opposition of the
larva to its resting place more complete. These seem to be true
hairs jointed at the base, and the points over the dorsum are
probably also really hairs rather than spicules. The shagreened
dots are about '08 mm. in diameter. As one passes inwards
from the margin, the hairs get rather thicker, and retain their
length of "2 to "28 mm., the shagreened bases lose all chitinous
colour, and, a short way in, is apparently a smooth surface,
thickly studded with white, short, thick hairs ; as we approach
the prolegs these get shorter and sharper, and fail altogether at
a line just below the summit of the column, at top of which is
the retractile portion of the leg. Then, just at the margin of
the summit of the column, is a compact circle of crotchets, that
differ in no very decided manner from those ordinarily found on
ON THE LARVA OF LIPHYRA BRASSOLIS. 253
prolegs. Within this circle is a white projecting mass of tissue,
with a ridge along its summit from front to back, with parallel
striae running down to the margin. The crotchets are hooked
outwards, have a short flat base applied to the surface of attach-
ment, and, without forming two or three regular rows, are in
more than one row. The little smooth space outside them gives
them room for movement without being interfered with by the
hairs that clothe the rest of this under surface.
These circles of crotchets, which are to all appearance identical
with the complete circles found on the prolegs of " Micro " larvae,
are not the ordinary crotchets at all, but an entirely new struc-
ture. The true crotchets exist in the young larva, but in this
full-grown one are merely represented by the striae on the central
fleshy mass noticed, which is really the true proleg; the crotchets
here existing are round the summit of the pillar, at the centre of
which the true proleg is here, as often, placed. Its method
of working must be very similar to that of the " Micro " full
circle, but, instead of having a central tendon as they have, it
has the whole proleg structure, by the movement of which it
must be expanded and contracted so as to take and relax
its hold.
The true legs are rather small and rather thick, and densely
or at least very closely and regularly clothed with fine white
hairs, and terminate in a claw ; slightly hooked, slender as com-
pared with the last joint of the leg, dark in colour, making it
look very strong and sharp, and capable of being flexed, so as to
fold up on to the last (tarsal) joint of the proleg, reminding one
of the tibiae of Nepa or Mantis.
The head is nearly colourless, about 1'7 mm. wide; centrally
below the mouth, and pointing backwards, is the labium or part
of it, a pale conical rather than cylindrical process ending in a
short chitinous tube (spinneret '?) . On each side is a long palpus
(maxillary?) of three joints, the last very small, projecting ven-
trally, and apparently with a fleshy process (maxilla ?) towards
the middle line ; in front is a tolerably normal labrum, square
and notched below, with a good many short hairs on its anterior
surface. The antennae are very long, about I'l mm., and regularly
clothed with fine hairs ; I cannot recognize a basal joint, if there
is one; the next, therefore however, first, is very long, 1 mm.,
and also thick about '22 mm. ; the last joint is a small square
piece about '1 mm.
The labrum is very fixed in its position and moves little ;
even if I am deceived in this matter by having only stiff pre-
served specimens to deal with, it is certain that it fits down very
closely and tightly laterally in the maxillary bases, leaving in
front an oval opening between it and the labium, within which
the jaws are visible, with apparently some room for movement
in the cavity thus formed.
254 THK ENTOMOLOGIST.
Each jaw carries three teeth, not mere notches as in Lepi-
doptera generally, but each tooth is a long sharp spine, capable
of piercing, but certainly not of biting ; each jaw is probably
capable of meeting the other, so that the teeth may interlock,
but in the specimens examined one jaw is entirely in front of
the other.
The eye-spots are six, five of them in a semicircle, the
other separate.
The head, which looks sunk into the white fleshy tissue of the
under side of the larva, is really very moveable, and has a definite
neck (?), so that the mouth-parts, which are at front of head
and point more or less forwards, can be directed directly back-
wards, between the true legs, exposing the front or dorsum
of the head, which is rather longer than broad, nearly colour-
less, and has some hairs, and the usual suture marking off the
clypeus.
I should like, by again mentioning, to emphasize what seems
to me as remarkable a feature as any it possesses — vis;, the de-
velopment, de novo, of a " Micro " proleg, by the obsolescense of
the real crotchets, though not of the base that carries them, and
by the appearance of an entirely new set of crotchets round the
base of the proleg proper.
Not so remarkable as a structural modification, but more so,
perhaps, as connected with most unusual habits, is the modifica-
tion of the jaws, as piercing and tearing and no longer biting
organs, and, if I observe correctly, the alteration of the tropin
into a suctorial tube, from which the jaws are just able to pro-
trude ; remarkably similar, functionally, to the tube surrounding
the jaws in PJiyllocnistis, though the details of structure and
habits are so widely different.
The jaws would most efl'ectively take a hold of the skin of an
ant larva, piercing its skin at the same time in six places ; they
would then draw the piece so seized within the closed cavity
formed between labrum, labium, and (laterally) maxillae, so that
the juices of the larva could be easily sucked out.
There is also a larva of intermediate size, which differs from
the larger one in nothing except perhaps that the spiracles are
more readily seen than in the full-grown one.
The pupa I have before me is very large, 28 mm. long, 14
mm. broad, and 10 mm. deep, whilst it is depressed in front, in
a way apparently due to pressure ; were the rounded contour of
the dorsum and sides continued its depth would be 12 mm. It
is typically Lycasnid in form, being very round at either end,
broadest at fourth and fifth abdominal segments, narrower
thoracically ; head beneath ; no moveable segments ; no trace of
cremastral hooks or of any silken girth ; first leg equally against
head and antennae. The maxillae are well developed; they appear
to contain no maxilla (the specimen being close on emergence),
ON THE LARVA OF LIPHYRA BRASSOLIS. 255
but the labial palpi are very evident beneath them. The most
special feature of the pupa is a set of flanges, or raised ribs. If
the pupa were divided into a dorsal and ventral piece, by a
section through its widest dimensions, the line of section would
mark one of these ribs, which starts round the abdominal seg-
ments from the anal angle of the wings (end of vein Ic), and
goes round the end of the pupa, dividing the last segment into
two portions; this segment is consequently of considerable antero-
posterior dimensions, stretching a good way under the pupa, but
also having a portion, as it were, lifted right out on to the dorsum
by having to be above the flange. The segmental incisions are
all raised into double ridges, but ventrally, i. e. below the mar-
ginal flange above noted, but with no trace of anything of the
sort above it, each segment has another single ridge or flange
about one-third of the way in front of each incision. The scars
of prolegs are well-marked by large areas into which these ribs
do not intrude.
These flanges are obviously the remains of the great marginal
border of the caterpillar, and of the division beneath it of each
segment into two. The marginal ridge extends forwards through
the wings, but the pupal shell is so delicate that it is diflicult to
say whether this ridge is in the wing- covers, or an indication of
a flange on the segments beneath them, showing through.
The spiracles are more obvious than in the larva, and occupy
a similarly dorsal position. The pupa is very smooth and
polished at least thoracically ; the abdomen has very numerous,
almost microscopic hair-points.
I have also a specimen of the pupa within the larva skin.
This fully illustrates Mr. Dodd's account of how pupation
occurs. The larva skin becomes a little altered by the dorsum
being rather raised and rounded, but substantially it is the
adult larva one sees, and this forms a case or cocoon, precisely
as happens in the pupation of the Muscidae.
The pupa inside lies quite free from any attachment to the
skin, but the ventral depression of the pupa is due to its having
to fit on the ventral aspect of the larval skin, which is raised
centrally by the head, legs, prolegs, &c.
The larval skin dehisces by cracking round the marginal
crest in front, by a crack across the front of the three ridges,
i. e. between third and fourth abdominal segments. The semi-
circular portion thus marked off again divides longitudinally
into two portions ; in my specimen one of these portions is
missing, the other loose.
[A plate illustrating the early stages of Liphyra brassolis is
being prepared, and will be published in the present volume. —
Ed.]
256 THE ENTOMOLOGIST.
DESCRIPTION OF A NEW SPECIES OF CICADID^ FROM
CEYLON.
By W. L. Distant.
COSMOPSALTRIA GAMAMEDA, Sp. n.
3" . Head and pronotum greenish ochraceous — possibly pale green
in fresh specimens ; head, front with black carinae on each side, leaving
a pale spot at base and a smaller spot at apex, vertex with the area of
the ocelli connected obliquely with a lateral streak, black, eyes piceous;
pronotum with two central discal lines connected at anterior margin,
two contiguous converging spots near centre of posterior margin, the
margins and incisures black ; mesonotum with a central discal line,
on each side of which is a broader curved lineate fascia, followed by
two small spots on anterior maigin, a lineate fascia on each lateral
area, and a small spot near each anterior angle of the cruciform
elevation, black ; abdomen brownish ochraceous, the lateral and basal
areas paler ochraceous, with a small central black spot on basal
segment ; sternum, rostrum, and legs pale ochraceous, abdomen
beneath brownish ochraceous ; basal margin of face, excluding central
spot, striated with black, and a black fascia between face and eyes ;
apices of femora and tibije more or less piceous. Tegmina and wings
hyaline, the venation ochraceous, here and there tinged with fuscous.
Body robust, oblong, slightly greyishly tomentose ; face not pro-
minently gibbous, obliquely transverse and moderately striate ; rostrum
reaching apex of posterior coxa3, its apex piceous ; opercula short,
subtriangular, a little sinuate outwardly, obliquely straight inwardly,
apices subacutely rounded and reaching the third abdominal segment.
? . Abdomen above reddish ochraceous.
Long. excl. tegm. <? 39, ? 31 millim. ; exp. tegm. ^ 110,
? 105 millim.
Hah. Ceylon ; Pundalu-oya (E. E. Green).
Allied in markings above to C. vibrans, Walk., but a larger
species, "with a broader head and the opercula altogether different.
Synonymical Note.
Mr. Matsumura, who has studied Dr. Horvarth's types at
Budapest, and who recently passed through London on his
return to Japan, informed me that Lejptopsaltria japonica, Horv.
= Pomponia japonensis, Dist. ; both descriptions published in
1892. He wished to know the date of publications, and I have
looked into the question.
Pomponia japonensis.
Pomponia japonensis, Dist., Mon. Orient. Cicad. p. 102
(Part V. pp. 97-120, May, 1892).
Leptopsaltria japonica, Horv. Termesz. Fiizetek, xv. p. 136
(October 31st, 1892).
257
A CONTRIBUTION TO THE CLASSIFICATION OF THE
COCCID^.
By T. D, a. Cockerell.
(Concluded from p. 233.)
Walkeriana, Signoret.
Walkeriana, Signoret, Ann. Soc. Ent. France, 1875, p. 390.
Tyi^e,floriger.
5 . More or less covered with dense waxy lamellae ; antennae
10-jomted.
Species. — W.floriger, Walker, W. compacta, Green, W. euplior-
hies, Green, W. polei, Green, and W. senex, Green, Ceylon.
W. jJertinax, Newstead, and W. andrecs, Green, Central Africa.
Section Aspidoproctiis,'Nevfsiea,d,'P.Z.S., 1900, p. 948. Female.
Genital opening covered by a flap ; waxy processes small, not
covering body. IF. pertinax.
leery a, Signoret.
Icerya, Signoret, Ann. Soc. Ent. France, 1875, p. 351. Type,
seychellarum.
Proticerya, Cockerell, Psyche Suppt., 1895, p. 15. Type,
rileyi.
Crossotosoma, Douglas, Ent. Mo. Mag. March, 1890, p. 79.
Type, (Egyptiaca.
? . Soft, with a long (usually ribbed) posterior ovisac ; antennae
typically 11-jointed.
3'. Without caudal processes.
Species. — /. seychellarum, Westw., islands of Indian Ocean ;
I. natalensis, Douglas, Natal ; I. albolutea, Ckll., W. Africa ; I.
formicarum, Newstead, India ; I. agyptiaca, Douglas, Egypt,
Ceylon ; I. tangalla, Green, Ceylon ; I. crocea, Green, Ceylon ;
/. pilosa, Green, Ceylon ; I. purchasi, Maskell, Australia, &c. ;
I. koehelei, Maskell, Australia.
I. brasiUensis, Hempel, Brazil ; I. schrottkyi, Hempel, Brazil ;
1. montserratensis, Kiley-Howard, West Indies ; I. palmeri, Eiley-
Howard, Mexico; I. rileyi, Ckll., New Mexico ; I. littorcdis, Ckll.,
Mexico.
Section Proticerya, Ckll. Female antennae 9- to lO-jointed.
I. rileyi, I. littoralis.
Margarodin.^.
Margarodes, Guilding.
Margarodes, Guilding, Trans. Linn. Soc. Lond. xvi. (1829),
p. 115 ; Giard, C. R. Soc. Biol. Feb. 10th, 1894, p. 412. Type,
formicarum.
Porpliyrophora, Brandt, Mem. Ac. St. Petersb. 1834, 1835.
258 THE ENTOMOLOGIST.
Sphceraspis, Giard, C. E. See. Biol. Nov. 10th, 1894, p. 712.
Type, vitium.
Subterranean, anterior legs of both sexes adapted for digging.
? . Adult soft, mouth absent, legs and antennae present ; inter-
mediate stage hard, globular, more or less like a pearl, with no legs.
Species. — M. gallicus, Signoret, France ; M. hameli, Brandt,
Armenia ; M. perrisi, Signoret, France ; M. polonicus, Linne,
Poland.
M. trimeni, Giard, S. Africa ; M. capensis, Giard, S. Africa.
M. formicarum, Giiilding, West Indies ; M. rileyi, Giard,
West Indies ; M. hiemalis, Ckll., New Mexico ; M. vitium, Giard,
Chile.
Section Spharaspis, Giard. Intermediate stage ovoid, with-
out any appearance of segmentation. M. vitium, M. capensis.
Section Porphyrophora, Brandt. Anterior legs less swollen ;
antennae with 7 to 9 joints. M. hameli, M.polonicus, M. gallicus,
M. perrisi.
Coelostomidia, Cockerell.
Ccelostomidia, Cockerell, * Nature,' Feb. 15th, 1900, p. 367.
Type, zealaudicum.
Coilostoma, Maskell, Trans. New Zealand Inst. xii. (1879),
p. 294. lly\)Q, zealandiciim (not Coelostoma, Brulle, 1835).
5 . Soft, with legs and antennae, but no mouth. Anterior legs
in both sexes normal.
3' . With no caudal brush.
Species. — G. assimilis, Maskell, C. wairoensis, Maskell, C.
zealandica, Maskell, C. compressa, Maskell, and C. pilosa, Mas-
kell, New Zealand.
Subgenus Ultracoelostoma, Ckll. Female. Adult without mouth
or legs ; antennae with about five joints, more or less rudi-
mentary. C. assimilis.
Calli2Ja2}2nis, Guerin.
Callijxippus, Guerin-Meneville, Eev. Zool. 1849, p. 129 ;
Fuller, Trans. Ent. Soc. Lond. 1899, p. 435. Type, ivestwoodi.
? . Body more or less triangular, thin in front ; abdomen with
only the first two or three segments visible, the rest forming a pouch
which contains the eggs. Antennas 10- or 11 -jointed. Mouth absent.
^ . With a caudal brush.
Species. — C. westwoodi, Guerin ; C. australis, Maskell ; C. im-
manis, Maskell; C. ruhiginosiis, Maskell; G. fariiiosus, Fuller;
G. bufo, Fuller : all from Australia.
Sasakia, Kuwana.
Sasakia, Kuwana, Proc. Calif. Acad. Sci. 1902 (not yet pub-
lished).
? . "Enclosed in cottony secretion ; antennae 9-segmented ; body
CLASSIFICATION OF THE COCCID^. 259
distinctly segmented ; no digitules on claw nor on tarsus ; mouth
wanting in adult ; anal tube absent." (Kuwana.)
Species. — S. quercus, Kuwana, Japan.
Xylococcus, Loew.
Xylococcus, Loew, Verhandl. d. k.k. Zool.-Bot. Ges. xxxii.
(1882), p. 271 ; Pergande, Bull. 18, n.s., Div. Ent. Dep. Agric.
(1898), p. 18. Tj^e,Jiliferus.
5 . Antennae 9-jointed ; legs well-developed ; mouth absent ;
digitules present, but without knobs. In all stages between larva and
adult the mouth is present, and the legs and antennte are absent.
(^ . With an abdominal brush. Arboreal insects, living on Tilia,
Betula, and Quercus.
Species. — X.filiferus, Loew, Central Europe ; X. betulce, Per-
gande, North America ; X. quercus, Ehrhorn, California.
Ortheziin^.
Orthezia, Bosc.
Orthezia, Bosc, Journ. de Phys. xxiv. (1784), p. 171 ; Louns-
bury, 32nd Ann. Fiep. Mass. Agr. College. Type, characias
{^=urticce).
Cyphoma, Gistel, Nat. des Thier. (1848), p 151. Type, cha-
racias (not Cyphoma, Bolt. 1798).
? . Body compact, short, more or less covered with waxy white
lamellffi ; a more or less elongated ovisac of firm texture ; legs long
and well-developed ; antenna3 8- (rarely 7- or 9-) jointed ; mouth well-
developed.
S- . Eyes compound ; abdomen with a caudal brush.
Species. — 0. cataphracta, Shaw, Northern Europe, Siberia,
Greenland ; 0. urticce, Linne, Europe ; O. delavauxi, Thieb.,
Europe ; O.floccosa, DeGeer, Europe; 0. mcenariensis, Douglas,
Italy.
0. occidentalis, Douglas, Colorado, New Mexico ; O. aniice,
Ckll., New Mexico, &c. ; 0. nigrocincta, CklL, New Mexico ; O.
sonorensis, Ckll., Mexico; 0. artemisice, Ckll., New Mexico ; 0.
garryce, Ckll., New Mexico ; 0. monticola, Ckll., New Mexico ;
O. cheilanthi, Tinsley, New Mexico ; 0. graminis, Tinsley, New
Mexico ; 0. lasiorum, Ckll., New Mexico.
0. insignis, Douglas, Tropics of the New World, Ceylon ; 0.
prcelonga, Douglas, Tropics of the New World ; 0. ultima, Ckll.,
Argentine Eepublic.
Section Arctorthezia, Ckll. Waxy secretion dense, not easily
removed ; wedge-shaped lamellae in dorsal line. Boreal types.
O. occidentalis (type of section),' 0. cataphracta.
Ortheziola, Sulc.
Ortheziola, Sulc, SB. Bohmisch. Ges. 1894, p. 5.
? . Similar to Orthezia, but antennae 4 -jointed.
260 THE ENTOMOLOGIST.
Species. — 0. vejdovsktji, Sulc, 0. signoreti, Haller, Europe ;
O.fodiens, Giard, Guadeloupe.
PHENACOLBACHIINiE .
Phenacoleachia, Cockerell.
Phenacoleachia, Cockerell, Cauad. Entom. 1899, p. 274.
? . Form elongated, labium long ; anal ring with six hairs ;
antennae 11-jointed, with curved spines at the end.
(?. With two long caudal filaments; and compound eyes con-
sisting of ocelliform bodies forming a single ring round the head,
interrupted above and below.
General form of both sexes resembling the Dactylopiini.
Species. — P. zealandica, Maskell, New Zealand.
ON THE MOEPHOLOGY AND CLASSIFICATION OF THE
AUCHENOKRHYNCHOUS HOMOPTERA.
By Dr. H. J. Hansen.
(Continued fi'om p. 236.)
IV.
As above mentioned, I accept the classification of the
Auchenorrliynchous Homoptera into four families (proposed by
Stal in ' Hemiptera Africana,' vol. iv.), with the limitations for
these given by him. At the same time, Stal's fundaments of this
system are very defective, so that not one of the later authors,
not once even J. Sahlberg, has adopted them. I now attempt
to collect the chief points of the new results of my researches,
with the earlier known facts for an analytical table of the family
characters.
The exclusive characters are printed in italics, the not absolutely
exclusive hut well characterized structures are jii'i^ited in ordinary
type.
When one has to deal with several types (here families) the
nature of the analytical table sometimes causes a difficulty, i. e.
the strong emphasizing of a character absolutely peculiar to one
family (for instance, the absence of an empodium in the Stridu-
lantia in contradistinction to its presence in all the other families) ;
I have endeavoured to obtain this by the employment of special
printing; square brackets are used for sentences inserted, and
are not used when a special point is to be brought into relief.
A. Second segment of peduncle of the antennce ivithout sensory
organs, flagellum ivith several or many sensory fovea. Intermediate
coxce with the intero-basal angles a little remote inter se ; coxal ah-
THE AUCHBNORRHYNCHOUS HOMOPTERA. 261
diLction somewhat small. Metasternmn either entirely chitinom, or
luith two medium-sized membranous areas. Posterior coxce mobile,
trochantins apparent; posterior trochanters a little or not wider
than the femora ; a flexion only possible between trochanter and
femur ; posterior femora without a ''yellow spot" on the upper sur-
face. Pleura of third to eighth abdominal segments entirely located
on the loiver side, formed of a larger exterior chitinous plate, and
of an interior narrower area, partly membranous or evanescent.^
First pair of abdominal spiracles j)laced either laterally or ventrally.
Third to eighth pairs placed ventrally, looking dowmvards. Tegulse
always absent.
a. Three ocelli.
Flagellum consisting of five (or four?) elongate segments;
sensory fovese very numerous in the two basal segments of the
flagellum (some even found in the other segments). Con-
spicuous part of the mesonotum very large. Anterior femora
very different from the intermediate pair [always considerably
incrassate] . No empodium. Second pair of abdominal spiracles
placed in a transverse ventral furrow, looking anteriorly and
mcdianly ; third to seventh pairs placed in the sternites, not in the
pleura. Stridular organ present in the male. Antennae always
placed in deep pits in front of the eyes under the anterior margin
of the vertex. Tegmina unarmed beneath. Anterior margin of
the wings a little curved towards the base, unarmed. Meta-
sternum entirely chitinous. Posterior scarcely wider than the
intermediate coxae, never reaching to the lateral margin of the
thorax. Posterior femora simple, posterior tibiae cylindrical.
1. Stridulantia.
6. Ocelli two or none. Flagellum composed of cither numerous
segments, or of an inflated basal segment and a very slender " seta" ;
some sensory fovea present, never numerous. Conspicuous part of
the mesonotum medium-sized, or small or absent. Anterior femora
scareely different from the second pair [most often not incrassate]. t
A large empodium present. Second pair of abdominal spiracles
placed laterally, looking exteriorly or partly upwards. Third to
eighth pairs placed in the pleura. No strididar organ.
a. Flagellum composed of a large subpyriform basal segment,
and a very slender *' seta " — generally subarticulate ; basal segment
with some sensory organs, '' seta " without them. Tegmina ivith a
carina towards the base on the lower surface. Anterior margin of
wings towards the base with a triangular plate, which is fur-
nished on the exterior margin with some hooks. Metasternum
someivhat long, with two medium-sized membranous areas,
Posterior coxce scarcely tvider than the intermediate pair, not reach-
ing to the lateral margin of the thorax.
* In Cystosoma entirely coalesced with the tergites and sternites.
f In Darnis, Fabr., the anterior and intermediate femora are strongly
incrassate.
262
THE ENTOMOLOGIST.
Posterior femora towards the base on the upper surface
with a wider transverse keel. Empoclium thicker, beneath with
two chitinous spinose strips, the free margin a little or scarcely
emarginate. Eyes always placed on the vertex towards the base.
Antenna always placed in deeper pits in front of the eyes under
the anterior margin of the vertex. Intermediate coxas with a
strong meracanthus. Posterior tibiae cylindrical, each with a
single process, or with two conical larger processes on the outer
surface. 2. Cercopidse.
/3. Flagellmn alivays composed of numerous segments ; basal
part longer, formed either of some {2-6) segments, or transversely
furcate, furnished with some scattered sensory pits ; distal part
divided into many segments, at least in part. Tegmina beneath not
carinate. Anterior margin of the wings ivithout a triangular plate,
sometimes someivhat convex. Metasternum short, entirely chitinous.
Posterior coxte much ivider than the intermediate pair, extending
as far as to the lateral margin of the thorax. Posterior femora
simple at the base. Emptodiiim thinner beneath, ivithout apparent
chitinous spines ; free margin profoundly incised medianly.
Ocelli sometimes on the vertex, sometimes on the front, occa-
sionally evanescent. Antennae usually inserted in front of the
eyes, sometimes under the eyes. Intermediate coxae somewhat
rarely with a meracanthus. Posterior tibiae very often prismatic
or foliaceous, very rarely almost cylindrical, generally seriately
spinulose, very rarely unarmed. 3, Jassidse.
B. Second segment of the peduncle with many or very many
pecidiar {composite) sensory organs ; Jiagellum ivith a single larger
sensory organ on the piyriform basal segment. Intermediate coxce
loith the inter o -basal angles considerably or very distant inter se ;
coxal abduction tvell developed. Metasternum almost entirely mem-
branous, and this tliin cuticle is extended outwards to the lateral
parts of the metathorax, tvhich is inflected someivhat on the lower side
of the body. Posterior coxa immobile, their exterior part coalesced
with the metathorax ; trochantins absent. Trochanters very much
stouter than the posterior femora ; both an adduction\and a flexion
jjossible between trochanter and femur. Posterior femora with a
" yelloiv spot" near the base on the upper surface. Pleura of the
third to eighth segments largely or altogether situated laterally,
either altogether membranous, or with a large upper area in large
pai't hr altogether membranous, and a lower plate chitinous. First
pair of abdominal spiracles situated dorsally within the exterior
produced part of the metanotum. Third to eighth pairs situated
essentially laterally, and in large part or altogether turning out-
wards.
Ocelli more rarely evanescent, more often two at the sides of
the head in front of the antennae ; sometimes a third ocellus is
found on the lower margin of the front near the base of the
clypeus. Antennae inserted under the eyes ; flagellum composed
SOME NEW GENEKA AND SPECIES OF HYMENOPTERA. 263
of a thicker basal segment, and a very slender " seta," either
exarticulate, or partly or altogether divided into numerous seg-
ments. Tegula almost always present. Empodium coalesced
with the claws throughout a shorter distance, and at most
through two-thirds of the length of the claws ; free margin a
little emarginate or simple. Second pair of abdominal spiracles
dorsal, somewhat remote from the lateral margin.
4. Fulgoridse.
(To be continued.)
ON SOME NEW GENERA AND SPECIES OF HYMENO-
PTERA (ICHNEUMONID^, CHRYSIDID^, FOSSORES,
AND APID^).
By p. Cameron.
(Continued from p. 241.)
SPHEGIDiE.
Ampulex longicollis, sp. nov.
CaBrulea, antennis pedibusque nigris, femoribus posticis dimidio
basali rufo ; alis fusco-violaceis. ? . Long. 16-18 mm.
Hah. Khasia (coll. Piothney).
Antenna black, sparsely covered with black hairs ; the third joint
twice the length of the fourth. Head dark purple, the cheeks and oral
regions of a brighter tint ; the front and vertex coarsely rugosely punc-
tured ; the former with a keel down the apical two-thirds. Clypeus
aciculated, stoutly keeled dowu the middle, and sparsely haired ; the
apex rounded ; the sides armed with an oblique longish tooth. Man-
dibles black, keeled down the middle and at the sides. The front and
vertex are sparsely haired. Thorax blue, mixed with purple and
green ; the median segment for the greater part indigo-blue. Pro-
thorax smooth, aciculated, and with a few scattered punctures ; its
base distinctly separated, and the apex is depressed ; the apical part
narrowed towards the apex and transverse at the base ; the prothorax
is if anything longer than the mesothorax, which bears large deep
scattered punctures, as do also the scutellum and post-scutellum ;
these are sparsely covered with long black hair. The central keel on
the median segment is straight, and reaches shortly beyond the
middle ; the second keel is of similar length ; the outer longer,
reaching to the apex ; the segment is stoutly transversely striated,
the strife becoming more curved and irregular at the apex of the keels ;
the middle part at the apex is smooth ; the apex of the segment is
perpendicular, and ends at the sides above in stout teeth. Mesopleurse
coarsely irregularly punctured ; the metapleurae with a longitudinal
keel below the keel which ends in the tooth ; the space between the
two bearing, near the middle and apex, some straight keels ; the base
below is aciculated, the rest reticulated. Mesonotum bearing large
deep round punctures ; its base smooth ; the middle furrow deep.
264 THE ENTOMOLOGIST.
Legs blue ; the tarsi black ; the apex of the hinder femora and the
tibiae black ; the basal half of the hinder femora red. Wings fuscous-
violaceous, more hyaline in the discoidal cellules. Abdomen blue,
shining ; the basal half of the petiole very narrow ; the apical half
abruptly dilated, and distinctly narrower than and separated from the
second segment, which is constricted at the base.
Ampulex trigona, sp. nov.
Caerulea ; antennis tarsisque nigris, femoribus posterioribus rufis ;
alis fusco-violaceis, nervis fuscis. J . Long. 21 mm.
Hah. Khasia (coll. Eotbney).
Antennae stout, shorter than the thorax, black, covered with a pale
down ; the third joint about one-third longer than the fourth. Head
sharply obliquely narrowed behind the eyes ; the vertex has a wide
shallow furrow in the middle behind, and is sparsely punctured later-
ally ; the front has some elongate fove^e or punctures on the sides ; in
the centre over the antennae are some semicircular keels, and one also
encloses the front ocellus. The autennal keels are stout, slightly
curved, and narrowed at the top ; in the middle immediately above
them is a distinct black tubercle. The clypeus is sharply keeled
throughout in the centre ; the apex in the middle roundly and broadly
projects, and has on either side a small rounded tooth. The eyes dis-
tinctly converge above, and are there separated by about the length of
the third antennal joint. Pronotum slightly longer than broad, of
almost equal width ; in the basal half above is, in the middle, a distinct
keel, the space on either side of which is slightly depressed. Meso-
notum smooth, the furrows deep ; the space between them darker, of
a more violaceous hue than the sides. The median segment is trans-
versely striated throughout ; the stria) enclosed by the inner keels
being more widely separated ; and those on the extreme outside are
stouter and still more widely separated. All the keels reach to the
apex, being united there to a stout semicircular keel ; its posterior keel
is broadly depressed in the centre. The lower two-thirds of the apex
of the segment is closely transversely striated ; the upper part has a
keel down the middle, and three or four irregular keels on the sides.
The spine on the top is stout, narrowed and transverse above ; below
it is a smaller triangular one. The upper half of the propleurae is
raised, and distinctly separated from the lower ; below the middle, on
the apical half, are a few stout keels ; the upper half of the mesopleurse
bears large deep irregular punctures ; the apex of the metapleurfe is
striated. Mesosternum with a few scattered, punctures ; the central
furrow moderately wide, and with transverse keels. The anterior
trochanters, femora, and tibiae are reddish in front ; the four posterior
trochanters and femora are bright red ; the hinder claws are stout at
the base, and have a stout sabapical tooth. The alar uervures are
fuscous. Abdomen smooth, the middle purple ; the petiole with the
narrowed basal part short ; the basal part beneath is stoutly trans-
versely striated. The head is more sharply narrowed behind than
usual, and the legs have more red.
(To be continued.)
265
NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS.
Food-plants of the Larva of Cnephasia sinuana, Steph. — Mr.
Bankes's remarks on the food-plants of this species had escaped my
eye until the other day, when I was looking over the July number of
the ' Entomologist.' He there (p. 194) states that Mr. G. Elisha bred
it from spun-up flowers of Ckrysanthcnuuii leucanthemnm, collected in
North Kent. If he will turn to the ' Entomologist' for the year 1879
(vol. xii. p. 61) he will there see that Mr. Elisha says: " I have also
bred 8. pasivana (sinuana) rathe^ ireely the last two seasons from larvae
feeding in the flowers of Chri/santhemum leucanthemnm .... various
parts of Kent and Surrey." Now the question is, Did he breed
sinuana, Steph., from this plant at all ? Of course pasivana, or more
correctly pascuana, Hiib., is, as everyone knows, a very different species,
bearing no resemblance whatever to sinuana, Steph., and it does feed
(as well as upon several other plants) upon the flowers of the " dog
daisy." I am aware that for some extraordinary reason Dr. Wocke
sank simiana, Steph., as a synonym of "pasivana," Hiib. ; not by any
means the only mistake he made. Possibly Mr. Elisha was using
Wocke's name, otherwise surely there must have been some mistake
somewhere ! There is one great difficulty to get over. If the late
Mr. Sang saw the specimens which were bred from C. lencanthem.}im,
and pronounced them to be simiana, Steph., I of course must bow to
his decision, as so good an entomologist could never have mixed up
two such very distinct species. — A. Thurnall ; " Mascotte," White-
hall Road, Thornton Heath, Sept. 12th, 1902.
Note on Euzophera pinguis. — On Thursday, August 7th, I was
passing (about 8 p.m.) a solitary ash tree about ten minutes' walk from
here, and upon glancing at the trunk as I passed was rather surprised
at counting thirteen specimens of Euzophera piiufuis upon it ; most of
them had only just left the pupa, their wings being held butterfly
fashion over their backs. I visited this tree for several successive
evenings until the 17th, and never failed to find several on each visit.
On two occasions the moths were seen to leave the pupa. After an
interval of nearly a fortnight I revisited the tree, and E. pinguis was
still coming out, but in much smaller numbers, and last evening (31st)
I saw one just emerging. In all I boxed forty, and saw quite fifty
more out of reach, as they come out late in the afternoon, and very
soon run up the trunk, generally well out of reach. How long they
had been appearing before the 7th of course I am unable to say, but
during the month I think I may say, without much exaggeration, that
hundreds must have emerged from this one unfortunate ash ! — A.
Thurnali. ; Whitehall Road, Thornton Heath, Sept. 1st, 1902.
Aberration of Vanessa urtic^e. — Miss G. Jeddere-Fisher caught
a specimen of V. urticcc, at East Grinstead, Sussex, ou August 28th,
1901. This example is entirely without the two spots on the disc of
the wing, and is similar in form to that mentioned in Newman's
' British Butterflies ' as the variety ichnusa of Bonelli.
Aberrations of Zyg^na minos. — On June 18th I visited the Welsh
locality for the above-named species, and found it in great numbers.
EKTOM. — OCTOBER, 1902. Y
ti66 THE ENTOMOLOGIST.
The imagines were just emerging and drying their wings, hanging on
to the heather and short herbage. Amongst them was one without
any trace of crimson, both upper and lower wings being entirely
bronzy black ; another specimen had the crimson very much reduced
and darkened, whilst three others were decidedly darker than is the
usual form. — C. F. Johnson ; Brinnington Crescent, Stockport.
Raphidia Larva attacked by a Fungus. — At the Oxshott Field
Meeting of the South Loudon Entomological and Natural History
Society on Sept. 6fch one or two larvae of liaphidia, a neuropterous
insect, were found on tree-trunks with abdomen very much distended
and pale in colour where the integument was soft enough to distend.
On the surface of the glass-tube in which one was placed I afterwards
found a multitude of spores, and some of them were evidently ger-
minating. On enquiry at Kew Gardens it was found that the larvae
were attacked by Emptisa lampyridarnm. In conversation with other
field entomologists I have heard of similar instances. Probably the
wet season is in a large measure responsible for this. — W. J. Lucas.
Proposkd Entomological Society in Manchester. — We are making
a strong effort here to form an Entomological Society, and would be
pleased to hear from any of your readers who are in any way interested
in the movement, and who could assist us in our object. — Walter E.
Hardy ; 52, Bedford Street, Moss Side, Manchester, Sept. 8th, 1902.
CAPTURES AND FIELD REPORTS.
Cyaniris (LYCiENA) ARGioLus IN WESTMINSTER. — I havc lately dis-
covered that L. argiolus has permanently taken up its abode near
Westminster Abbey. During the last day or two I have seen one
or two specimens flying round some ivy not fifty yards from that
building. — L. A. Spjencer ; 52, Burghley Road, Highgate, N.W.,
Aug. 29th, 1902.
CoLiAs EDusA IN SussEx.— One cloudy and very windy day about
August 10th, I noticed a specimen of 0. edma flying along the downs
not far from Brighton. This is the only specimen I have so far seen
this year on the wing. — A. W. Cardinall ; 18, Cromwell Road,
Brighton.
CoLiAs EDUSA IN Wales. — Ou August 26th, whilst staying at
Pwllheli, North Wales, I saw a fine male specimen of C. edusa. It
was flying close to the sea-shore. — (Mrs.) M. Alderson; Park House,
Worksop.
CoLiAS EDUSA NEAR NoRwicH. — Oil August 16th I saw a male
C. ednsa flying by the roadside about two miles from Norwich, but
failed to capture it. Two more were seen near this city on Sept. 6th ;
and a male was captured near my residence on Sept. 9th. — R. Laddi-
MAN ; 25, Drayton Road, Norwich, Sept. 17th, 1902.
PoLYOMMATUs ARTAXERXEs, Fabr., IN Banffshire. — On July 8th last
my son and I found this rare butterfly in a valley among the cliffs on
the Banffshire coast. As the food-plant of the larva {H.elianthemum
CAPTURES AND FIELD REPORTS. 267
vulffare) was abundant at the spot, I have been for some time in
expectation of getting the butterfly, but I failed till this year. There
seemed to be only a few individuals in flight, as we did not see more
than two at one time during a whole month. — Henry H. Beown ;
Cupar-Fife.
Pyrameis (Vanessa) cardui, Linn., at 1050ft, in Banffshire, — My
son captured a specimen of this butterfly beside the cairn on the
summit of the Binn Hill at Cullen, Banffshire, 1050 ft. above sea-
level, on July 22nd last. It was faded and rubbed, having probably
been carried to that elevation by a high wind, although it is not easy
to account for the vagaries of cardui. — Henry H, Brown ; Cupar-Fife,
Stauropus fagi at Mickleham. — On July 27th last, after a poor
day's collecting, I took a fine female specimen of the above species
resting on the trunk of a beech tree about ten feet from the ground.
It was quite perfect, and I think had not been out of the pupa more
than a day. — E, C, Goulton ; 4, Carnford Grove, Balham,
Apamea ophiogramma at Balham. — On August 26th last I took a
worn specimen of this insect at electric light in the town. Although
I have kept a good look-out, it is the only one I have seen, and should
like to know if any others have been taken here. — E. C. Goulton;
4, Carnford Grove, Balham. [See report of S. Lond. Ent. and Nat,
Hist, Soc, Aug. 28th, published in this number. — Ed.]
DicYCLA 00 IN Kent. — I took a fine specimen of this species on a
gas-lamp near Chislehurst towards the end of June last. — G. B.
Browne ; 43, Southbrook Eoad, Lee, S.E., Sept. 17th, 1902.
Prionus coriarius in Berkshire and in Hertfordshire. — On
August 26th last Mr. W. H. Warner, of Fyfield, near Abingdon, sent
me, for identification, a specimen of this somewhat uncommon beetle,
which he had found on the 21st of the month "crushed and lying on
a path in a neighbouring wood." I may mention that in 1893 I
captured an example of this species as it was flying across a pathway
on Batchworth Heath in Hertfordshire. — Eichard South ; 96, Drake-
field Road, Upper Tooting, S.W.
Blatta AUSTRALASIA IN SouTH DERBYSHIRE. — A cockroach forwarded
to me by Mr. Hugo Harpur Crewe from South Derbyshire proved to
belong to this species. Enquiries kindly made for me by Mr. Harpur
Crewe show that it has been established for the last five years, and
that it first made its appearance in a greenhouse where some orchids
were unpacked which were received from Queensland in 1895. —
Francis C. R. Jourdain ; Clifton Vicarage, Ashburne, Derbyshire.
Odonata bred in 1902. — From nymphs obtained in Byfleet Canal,
and a few from the river at Wye, I bred this year tiie following
species : — Of the Anisopterids, JEschna grandis (eight or nine, sexes
in about equal proportion), Lihelliila qnadrimaculata, Sympetrtim
striolatum ; of the Zygopterids, Ischnura elegans, Erythronivia naias,
Enallagm.a cyathigernm. The greater number of the Zygopterid
nymphs turned out to be Enjthromvia naiaa; nearly all the Anisopterids
were of the family J^lschnidte, and all of these of the species Mschna
grandis. The first jE. grandis imago appeared in the earlier part of
268 THE ENTOMOLOGIST.
July, the latest in the last week of August — an isolated case long after
all the other nymphs had duly accomplished their last transformation.
It is a curious thing that every ^schnid nymph I have obtained from
Byfleet Canal during the last three years has proved to be .E. (jrandis.
Some, it is true, have come to a premature end before emergence, and
I could not say certainly that they were fjiandis, but I have very little
doubt that they were. Can anyone explain why the nymphs always
turn head downwards to devour any prey they may have caught ? and
why the head of the empty nymph-case after the emergence of the
imago is invariably inclined to one side, and (from my observation)
usually to the right ? — ^Harold Hodge ; 9, Highbury Place, Loudon, N.
Lestes dryas at Hanwell, Middlesex. — During July of the present
year I was delighted to discover a large colony of Lestes dri/as at ponds
near Hanwell, in Middlesex. The males were abundant, but females
were not so common. During last winter the ponds were absolutely
dry; so, apparently, the nymphs must have burrowed down into the
mud during that season. The species was about from July till the
first week in August, but was over by the end of the latter month.
Points of distinction from the common Lestes spojisa will be found in
the bronze spot on the dorsal surface of the first segment of the
abdomen, and in the shape of the anal appendages of the male — these
in addition to the much bulkier and heavier appearance of the better
insect. The distinguishing points are figured in Lucas's ' British
Dragonflies,' pp. 230 and 284.— S. W. Kemp ; Notting Hill, Sept. 2nd.
The Large Earwig, Labidura riparia, at Pokesdown. — Major
Eobertson has shown me a female of this scarce insect, taken by his
daughter. Miss Nellie Robertson, at Bournemouth, on July 17th last.
I understand that others have been taken this season. It would be
interesting if those who have taken the insect during late years would
record their captures, so that its position as a British insect might be
better understood. — W. J. Lucas; Kingston-on-Thames, Sept. 8tii.
Erythromma naias in Berks. — Mr. W. Holland took a male of this
local dragonfly during the present season at King's Weir on the
Upper Thames.— W. J. Lucas ; Sept. 1902.
Lestes dryas at Wicken. — On August 12th, 1901, Mr. A. H.
Hamm took a male of this scarce dragonfly at Wicken Fen. It was
undetected at the time of capture amongst the common Lestes sponsa. —
W. J. Lucas ; Sept. 1902.
Eupithecia jasioneata in North Wales. — I have to record Eiipi-
thecia jasioneata from two localities on the Welsh coast. I found the
larva sparingly last August in Carnarvonshire, and also noticed it in
some flower-heads of Jasione vumtana sent me by a friend from the
neighbourhood of Barmouth. — J. E. R. Allen; Euniskillen.
PsAMOTis puLVERALis IN SuRREY. — I am vcry pleased to add this
species to the list of Lepidoptera occurring in the county of Surrey.
I took one example last August in the Ockham district. — Rich.^rd
South ; 96, Drakefield Road, Upper Tooting, S.W.
Notes on Lepidoptera in August. — On August 1st I visited Enfield
Lock with the intention of getting a number of larvae of Saturnia
CAPTURES AND FIELD REPORTS. 269
pavonia. Two years ago one could have brought away four or five
hundred without difficulty — I am afraid this fact was only too well
known to entomologists ; now it would be hard to find twenty.
Judging from the empty cocoons, (iastropacha quercifolia and Odonestis
potatoria are becoming more numerous in this district. At indoor
light at Chingford the following were taken : — Zeuzera mculi, Cerura
bifida, Pterostoma palpina (several), Xotodonta dictaa, Stilpnotia salicis
(abundant), Porthesia aurijiua, MUtochrista viiniata, Philea irrorella,
Arctia caia, Spilosoma menthnstri (a nuisance), Gastropacha quercifolia
(one spoilt), a worn-out specimen of Cymatoplwra ocularis, Hijdrmcia
micacea, Axijlia putris, Xylophasia mrea, Xylophasia polyodon, Dipteryyia
pinastri, Agrotis puta, Mania maura, and many other common Noctuae.
All these were taken during the first fortnight of August — not a bad
product for a London suburb ! Sugaring seemed altogether a failure,
and there was apparently little worth netting in the Epping Forest
district. Some worn-out specimens of Cossus ligniperda were brought
to me, but this latter moth is one of the commonest in this district.
Chisel a little in the willow-trees in June and you may obtain as
many pupae as you wish. The latter, I may mention, are extremely
easy to keep. Larva of the "kittens" were common enough, but I
have seen not a sign of Cerur<i vinula in any state this season. At
Dawlish, during the second and third weeks of August, Callimorpha
hera was abundant. I did not see another collector all the time I was
in the district. The weather was charming, and the return of insects
was equally so. Pupa-digging is not much patronized in August —
why I do not know ; I have always found it most productive. I
obtained about a dozen Amplddasys strataria (it was rather early for
the species, however). I could have taken home a large number of
Ayriopis aprilina, or of the Tasniocampidae. Cerastis vaccinii and C.
liyula (spadicea) were in force. Two pupae of Ennomns tiliaria and one
of Acronycta alni were found under bark of willow, and one of the E.
tiliaria has since emerged. A pupa of Xotodojita dromedariiis should
be mentioned. Altogether I procured five hundred and ninety-three
pupae, to more than half of which it would be difiicult to assign the
right names. In August, 1900, I obtained over two hundred pupfe at
Lyndhurst, and I scarcely knew the name of one, but there emerged
a lot of very good things, well worth the trouble of digging. — Stephen
Graham ; Chingford, Essex.
A Fortnight at Deal. — In the course of a fortnight's holiday at
Deal, commencing with August 10th, I found the moths at night-
time extremely abundant on the sand-hills. I put up at Martinsfield,
between Deal and Sandwich, and had therefore a fine opportunity of
night work in this locality. The garden at Martinsfield was surrounded
by a privet-hedge in full bloom, and simply swarmed with life by day
and night. I found treacling in this garden gave the most remunerative
results, the moths coming in large numbers nearly every night to the
posts and trees I had selected ; at one time I counted over thirty
insects on one patch alone, and it was amusing to watch them
struggling for the sweets I had provided. The specimens of Xylophasia
polyodon were particularly pugnacious and a great nuisance, as they
doubtless drove away some of the rarer sorts. The following were
in abundance and great variety: — Ayrotis obelisca (by far the most
270 THE ENTOMOLOGIST.
numerous), A. valUgera, A. puta, A. cxclautationh, Apamea (/emina,
A. oculea, Hydrcecia nictitans, Triphana pronuba, T. orbunn, Mamestra
brassica, X. pohjodon (fine light and dark varieties), and Noctun xantho-
l/rapha. Among the others less numerous were : — Miana literosa, M.
furimcula, Nuctua c-nu/nou, N. baia, Ac.ronyctn rumicis (three), Amphi-
j)yra trayopogonis, Xoctua siiffusa, Ayrotis corticea, T. interjecta (two),
T. fimbria, Calymnia trapezina, Leucania impwa, L. pallens, L. obsoleta
(two), PhlnyopJwra meticulosa, Xylophasia sublu^tris (one), Lnperina
testacea, Cossus liyniperda (one), Mania maura, and Leucania lithargyria.
In the privet-hedge Plusia gamma swarmed, and examples of this
species also came to light in such numbers that they were quite a
nuisance in the music-room on the lawn. There were also several
locusts in the hedge, and one came to the treacle. Thinking that the
season for Callimnrpha dominuJa was over, I did not work especially
for this species, but I was fortunate enough to capture one in the
garden during the day in fair condition. I also took by day AcidaUa
emutaria (one), ZyyccnafiUpenduIt/' (very numerous), T. interjecta (one);
and at dusk, Porthesia awifliia, and one Eremobia ochrolenca in fine
condition. Among the butterflies here wexe—Pyram.eis cardui, P.
atakinta, Vanessa urticcc, V. io, V. polychloros, Chrysophanus plilaas,
Pararge megccra, Epinephele ianira, E. tithonus, Ccenovympha pampJiilns,
Lyccena ayestis, L. alexis, L. argiolus, Pieris brassica, P. rapa, and
Hesperia linea, but, as a whole, day- collecting was not propitious; the
hours of sunlight were few and far between, and when the sun was
shining the wind was cool and rather high, and suggestive always of
rain blowing up. In fact, the only ideal day was the one on which I
came away, and I was then too busy packing up to be able to take
advantage of it. In the few opportunities I had of exploring the
country round about on my bicycle, I saw several Colias ediisa, and
captured seven, five in fine condition, but C. liyale was not apparently
about. I also took four more Eremobia ochrolenca on some thistle-
heads in a lane near Sandwich. P. cardui were also very abundant
in the same spot, and indeed all about that neighbourhood, and I
captured as many perfect insects as I wanted. I found Melanaryia
galatea plentiful near Folkestone, and also took one Aspilates yilvaria
there. I went down and returned from Deal on my bicycle by way
of Dover, Folkestone, Hythe, and Ashford, but had little opportunity
of doing any collecting on the road, as the weather during the two
journeys was most unfavourable. I slept at Dymchurch, near Hythe,
on the outward journey, and did a little dusking there, with the result
of capturing Cleora lichenaria (three), Lithosia vwlyhdeola (two), and C.
phraymitidis (one). Abraxas yrossulariata were flying about here in the
bushes in large numbers. It will be observed that nearly all my insects
were taken in the garden at Martinsfield, and, considering the poor
success I had had at sugar all the season up to this fortnight (I treacled
in the New Forest for seven nights in early July, with the result of two
insects], the few days I spent at Deal were quite a revelation to me.
Too many insects at a time (especially to a novice) have certain draw-
backs, and I have little doubt that my list of captures could have been
largely extended had I not been only a comparative beginner, as I
must have passed over many varieties that a more experienced eye
would have readily detected. — G. B. Bbowne ; 43, Soutlabrook Road,
Lee, S.E., Sept. 17th, 1902.
271
SOCIETIES.
South London Entomological and Natural History Society. —
July 10th, 1902.— Mr. F. Noad Clark, President, in the chair.— The
President, in a few sympathetic words, referred to the sudden death
of Mr. Mark Winkley, an old member, and until recently a regular
attendant at both ordinary and field meetings. — Mr. West (Greenwich)
exhibited the following Hemiptera taken by Mr. Asliby at Deal during
the last week in May and the first week in June: — Podops Inuncta,
Sciocoris cursitans, Rhi/parochrojuas chiragra, R.prcBtextatus, Trapezonotus
agrestis, Macrodema micropterum, and Plinthisushrevipennis. — Mr. Ashby,
several species of Coleoptera he had taken on the Deal sand-hills in
June, including Zabrus gibbus, Saprlnws virescens, Melanotics puncto-
lineatics, Chrgsoiaela distinguenda, and Apion sedi. — Mr. West, a piece
of amber from Maldon, found some forty feet below the surface. There
were numerous insects imbedded in it, and, from there being no smell
of pine when rubbed, he thought it was not true amber, but gum
animi. — Mr. MacLachlan communicated a note on Cotgledon uinbilicus,
pointing out its occurrence at Winchelsea and other places in Kent. — ■
Mr. Step read a short report of the Field Meeting at Eanmore Common
on June 7th, 1902, and regretted the unfavourable weather which the
nineteen who attended had to endure.
July 24i/j.— The President in the chair.— Mr. F. M. B. Carr ex-
hibited twelve varieties, and the male parent of Amplddasys betularia,
bred from ova deposited by a black female, taken in cop. at Lee in
1901. — Mr. Kemp, a series of Lccmostcnus compJanatiis, a species new
to the British list, nearly related to Pristonychus terricola, and taken
by him near Dublin. He also showed Carabus clathratas, Pelophila
borealis, Blethisa uiulti punctata, ChlcBuias vigricornis, dark Pterostichus
cupreus, Bembidium bipunctatiim, Ca^lambas quinque-lineatus, C. novem-
Imeatus, OrectocJiilus villosus, and PJiopalomesites tardyi from Lough
Neagh, together with Bembidium argentiohun, a recently added species,
also from Lough Neagh. From near Dublin he showed Phytosus
balticus, Diglossa mersa, yellow Cercyon littorale, Saprinus niantimus,
Telephorus danvinianus, Cillenus lateralis, Pulydrusas clirysomela, Hydro-
poms several species, Silpha atrata and var. sub rotund ata, Hcemonia
appendiculata, CJirysomela baiiksii, Barynotus schdnherrl, Meloe violaceus,
and a series of the purely Irish Otiorrhynchus auropmictatus. — Mr.
Kemp, a series of the rare Lestes dryas from Hanwell, with L. sponsa
for comparison.
August 14:th. — The President in the chair. — Mr. Edwards exhibited
ova of Anthrocera tHfolii from Byfleet. — Dr. Fremlin said that, during
a recent visit to the Isle of Man, he had taken Dianthcecia ccesia and
larvae of Polia xanthomista var. nigrocincta. — Dr. Chapman, specimens
of Neuroptera bipennis [lusitanica) from Bajar, in Spain.
August 28th. — Mr. E. Step, Vice-President, in the chair. — Mr. E. J.
Eiley, of 91, Drakefield Road, Upper Tooting, was elected a member. —
Mr. South exhibited a series of Apamea ophiogramma, bred from larvae
taken in his garden at Tooting. — Mr. Turner, a short series of Agrotis
ripcB, bred at the end of June, 1902, from larvae taken in August, 1901,
at Dawlish. The variation was very considerable, from very snowy
forms to an exceedingly dark example. — Mr, Bowman, a large number
272 THE ENTOMOLOGIST.
of species of the genus Erehia, including series of E. zapa?eri, from
Spain, and K. christi from Switzerland. He also showed a series of
Melanar/iia lachesis. — Mr. South, ova of Tortri.v piceann. and Retinia
pinicolana from Oxshott. — Mr. Adkin, several masses of cocoons of a
species of Apanteles, which had emerged from the larvas of Boarmia
(jemmaria in his garden. A discussion ensued as to the cause of the
curious curved position of the larval remains over the cocoons. — Dr.
Chapman, a specimen of ScoliaiUa [Boliemannia) quadrimaculella from
Reigate. — Hy. J. Turner [Hon. Rep. Secretary).
RECENT LITERATURE.
W. F. Johnson and J. N. Halbert. " A List of the Beetles of
Ireland." 1902. Proc. Roy. Irish Acad. (3), vi., pp. 535-827,
and 1 map.
It was hut a few months ago (Entom. 1902, pp. 54-6) that we
hailed the termination of Mr. Kane's ' Catalogue of Irish Lepidoptera,'
and we have now to welcome a similar summary of our knowledge of
the Coleoptera. A number of local records and partial lists have been
published since the days of Haliday, the father of Irish entomologists,
in 1828, but Johnson and Halbert are the first to present us with a
complete list, a large proportion of the records, indeed, having been
made by these author's themselves.
In noticing Kane's work, we briefly summed up the views upon the
Erse Fauna held by various specialists in geographical distribution,
and these remarks naturally apply also very largely to the beetles.*
Some 1630 species are enumerated, a little less than half the total
British Coleopterous Fauna ; of these some forty are noted as having
been probably introduced more or less recently. There are no species
certanily peculiar to Erin, though one form [Silpha atrata var. .sui-
rotundata) occurs in the Isle of Man, but not on the Continent, and
has been recorded only very doubtfully from England. There are,
however, five species of European distribution not yet found in
England — viz. Di/scJiirius obscuriis, Stenun anjentellus, Beinhidmm
arijentiolum, Xantholuntu cribripennis, and OtiorrliyncJius auropunctatiis,
the last three being recorded for the first time as British.
In the Bibliographical List there are cited fifty- five authors who are
responsible for nearly 250 papers and isolated records of Irish beetles.
This work, accompanied as it is by notes of capture, &c., of the rare
and local species, must prove of high value to the working coleopterist.
We believe that the authors have also devoted considerable attention
to the Rhynchota, and we hope that they will before long produce a
similar account of that highly interesting but sadly neglected order.
G. W. K.
* Led astray by a misprint in Scharff's work, we unfortunately over-
looked a suggestive paper by G. H. Carpenter, " The Problems of the British
Fauna" ('Natural Science,' 1897, xi., pp. 875-86).
THE ENTOMOLOGIST
Vol. XXXV.] NOVEMBER, 1902. [No. 474.
VARIATION OF LYC.ENA CORYDON IN NORTH WILTS.
By the Rev. C. A. Sladen.
This species — the " chalk-hill blue," as it is commonly
called — occurs in profusion on the downs of North Wilts. Here
about harvest-time the foot of the downs, where the turf ends
and cultivation begins, is red with the flowers of the knapweed
(Centaurea), or "hardhead," as it is sometimes locally called ;
and on the flowers of this plant L. corydon swarms in countless
numbers, fighting its fellows for standing room, or expanding its
wings to the sun.
In this neighbourhood it varies little in size, though I have
occasionally caught little dwarfs of less than an inch in wing-
expanse, and other fine fellows of over Ih in.
The male varies little in colour, but the female varies much ;
and this applies both to the upper and the under side.
Upper side, male type. — Silvery blue, sometimes with black
discoidal spot on fore wings : —
1. With broad black hind margin.
2. With narrow black hind margin.
3. With spotted black hind margin.
In this latter the ocellated spots of the under side show through
the hind marginal band on the upper side. The extreme form
of this variety has a row of white spots along the hind margin,
the black border disappearing. Sometimes specimens occur
with the ocellated spots on the hind margin of the hind wings
tinged with orange, as in the female.
All these variations are mentioned by Mr. South in his notes
on the genus Lyccena in the 'Entomologist,' vols. xx. and xxxiii.,
var. 3 being figured on Plate I., fig. 9, in the former volume, and
the extreme form of it in Plate III., fig. 5, in the latter.
ENTOM. — NOVEMBER, 1902. Z
274
THE ENTOMOIiOGIST.
Upper side, female type. — Brown or black-brown, with black
discoidal spot on fore wings, sometimes also visible on hind
wings, and with more or less distinct hind marginal row of
orange ocellated spots on hind wings : —
1. Variegated with white.
(«) Discoidal spots edged with white.
{b)^ Hind wings with one or sometimes two interrupted rows
of white spots or dashes between the hind margin and base of
the wing.
2. Variegated with blue.
(a) Hind wings with blue spots or dashes, sometimes wholly
blue ; the fore wings also less commonly with spots or dashes of
blue, and sometimes with a central splash of blue, the distri-
bution of colour in this latter case resembling that of dark
forms of Li/aena argiolus. This form, though apparently not
uncommon elsewhere, I have not come across here before this
year.
(b) All the wings blue as in the male, but of a richer colour,
with or without black discoidal spots, the black hind margin
varying in width, as in the male, but always with orange
ocellated spots along hind margin of hind wings, as in typical
female. This is the variety Syngrajyha, and it is figured in
Dr. Lang's 'Butterflies of Europe,' plate xxvi. fig. 7. I found
this variety here first in 1870, though it no doubt occurred here
before my time ; but I have only lately tried to obtain a series.
Last year, when there was favourable weather, while L. corydon
was on the wing, I caught thirty specimens of this variety ; this
year, in unfayourable weather, I only obtained twelve.
One female caught last year is a small specimen with blue fore
wings, and hind wings normal, with few blue scales, reversing the
ordinary course of variation in this species. One female caught
this year has the veins of the hind wings blue, the intervening
spaces being normal colour. In the usual form of partial blue
variation the veins remain black, while the intervening spaces are
blue. Another female caught this year is of a dull black colour,
with white-edged discoidal spot on fore and hind wings, and with
indistinct greyish dashes from the hind margin to the base of
hind wings. The under side of this specimen is c^-eamy white,
wanting the basal spots on fore wings, and several of the spots
on hind wings, the other spots, though reduced in size, showing
up very distinctly against the light background.
Under side, male. — This does not vary much as to the
number of spots, though the spots often vary much in size.
Occasionally some of the spots are duplicated, occasionally some
are confluent. The variety without basal spots on the fore wings
is not uncommon, and the discoidal spot on the hind wings often
lacks the black centre.
ZONOSOMA (ephyra) pendularia. 275
Under side, female. — The spots vary much both in size and
number. An extreme specimen has only discoidal spot on the
hind wings, the basal spots being absent on the fore wings, and
the row of spots inside the hind marginal row being also very
small and indistinct. I have many varieties leading up to this.
The ground colour of the under side varies from dark brown to
pale or yellowish brown, and on the fore wings to almost white,
the white form of under side generally coinciding with variation
of colouring of the upper side.
Alton Barnes Eectory, Wilts : Sept. 30th, 1902.
THE NORTH STAFFORDSHIRE FORM OF ZONOSOMA
{EPHYRA) PENDULARIA.
By F. C. Woodforde, B.A., F.E.S.
The object of this paper is to call attention to a remarkable
form oi Zonosoma pendularia, which appears to be confined to a
very small area in North Staffordshire. The typical form of this
species has a very pale, nearly white, ground colour, which makes
the insect almost indistinguishable when sitting on the white
stems of birches. In the variety under consideration the ground
colour is a slaty grey, rather closely approaching that of Z.
orbicularia, while the whole of the centre of the wing is filled
up with a rosy pink. This rosy coloured portion has no clearly
defined edges, but merges gradually into the ground colour. It
is very difficult to describe colouration of this sort where the
colours are thus suffused, so as to convey a clear idea of the
object under description ; and the Editor, to whom I sent some
specimens, has kindly promised to include figures of one or two
of them in the next coloured plate of varieties published in the
* Entomologist.'
The habit of most of the species of the genus is to sit during
the day on leaves, and, although I have often seen Z. jnmctaria
sitting on the trunks, yet I have obtained far more by beating
the bushes. Z. porata and Z. annidata (omicronaria) seem
always to choose a leaf for a resting-place ; Z. pendularia, on
the contrary, as far as my experience goes, seems always to rest
on the stems, generally of small birches, but not unfrequently
on the trunks of oak-trees. Very few of the birch-stems in this
district of North Staffordshire are white, by far the larger pro-
portion being reddish brown, mottled with dark green by lichens.
On such a stem the type-form, which is almost invisible on the
white birch-trunks of the New Forest, would stand out most con-
spicuously ; whereas the form under consideration is extremely
hard to see, even when one is close, and looking at the very spot
z 2
276 THE ENTOMOLOGIST.
where the insect is sitting. Forms approaching the typical
occur here, but the palest is greyer than the type, and individuals
of the darker forms are more numerous than representatives of
the pale one.
It would appear therefore that this aberration from light to
dark is a change brought about for protection, the conspicuous
pale form having gradually developed into the very inconspicuous
dark one.
Mr. Barrett, in his great work, figured a specimen that I sent
him for that purpose, with a very similar but darker form of the
same aberration from Mr. Webb's collection ; but the locality
from which this latter specimen came is not given. After
numerous inquiries I cannot discover that anyone has ever seen
or heard of this peculiar form occurring in any other locality,
though my inquiries extended even into Germany.
Such a distinct and remarkable variety seems to deserve
a distinctive name, so I propose naming it Z. i^endularia var.
&uhroseata.
Market Drayton : October, 1902.
ON THE BUTTERFLIES COLLECTED IN EQUATORIAL
AFRICA BY CAPTAIN CLEMENT SYKES.
By Emily Mary Sharpe.
[My journey into the interior of Africa I commenced early in
1898. Starting from Mombasa in the train, which in those days
only took one 120 miles, I soon got to Kebwezi and Nairobi.
Both these places were excellent haunts for the entomologist,
and I much regret that I did not embark on making a collection
of Lepidoptera and Coleoptera until the time came for my return.
Alas ! I found myself steaming through these places in 1900 in
a train, and my opportunity had gone.
I commenced my collection about July, 1899, when I was at
a place called Lamogi, in the valley of the Upper Nile, close to
Baker's old fort of Fatiko. Though there are woods in those
regions, there is little or no forest, and butterflies were rather
scarce. The Nymphalida were principally represented. In
December, 1899, I journeyed to Wadelai, which is a far drier
and sandier place, and there the Pierida^ were fairly prolific.
More especially did Teracoli abound in great numbers and
varieties. Near the sandy banks of the Nile I could always
catch as many as I wanted. But the Nile District is a dis-
appointing country for the entomologist, who would naturally
expect many new species in such little frequented regions. In
BUTTERFLIES COLLECTED IN EQUATORIAL AFRICA. 277
March, 1900, I began my return journey to the coast, and com-
menced then to work more seriously. Had I known earlier in
my career how easily butterflies are sent home, and in what
good condition they arrive, I should have sent many thousands
more than I did. As it was, I waited until I could bring
them to the coast personally, fearing to trust the fruits of so
much labour to the tender mercies of the various savages through
whose hands they would have to pass.
Through Unyoro I collected a fair number, in the swamps, of
the Nymphalidse and Acrseid^e, and on entering Uganda proper,
the wooded dells, fringed with swamps, afforded opportunities
for considerably increasing the collection, especially amongst the
Hesperidse. During the evening and at night it was my custom
to sit with one end of my tent open, and two lights burning. As
the moths came towards and around the light, I watched my
opportunity, and directly tliey were stationary I pressed them to
death with the handle of a spoon or fork, having no killing-
bottle. I found this possible without doing any appreciable
damage to the scales of the specimens, I thus got all the
Hesperidae and Noctuidte in the collection.
All the wooded shores of the Victoria Nyanza are admirable
hunting-fields, and I have seldom seen such a sight as the
butterflies on the shore opposite Lubwa, where an arm of the
lake forms an exit for the old river Nile. The steep hill over-
looking an exquisite view was ablaze with their colours, and I
stood for many hours netting as hard as I could.
Passing through Usoga and Kavirondo, I encountered a
famine, where dead bodies of natives and animals lay at frequent
intervals in the pathway. Over these hideous objects beautiful
butterflies hovered, and it seems strange that nature should give
such repulsive food to perfect works of her art. Then I came to
the great primaeval forest of Nandi, and within its depths the
species of Charaxes seek the many putrefactions which are
always to be found amongst trees and damp heat. As they
shake and quiver over some filthy morsel they gradually make
themselves drunk, and fall easy victims to the collector. Some
enthusiasts hang up putrid meat and carcases to attract these
foul feeders, but if forest is near this is unnecessary. It is prac-
tically the only way to catch all those butterflies that have a
strong flight.
And so I finally got to the train and reached the coast.
I could not take the collection home myself, as I had to hurry
off to the war ; but I carefully put the specimens in paper
"envelopes," these into biscuit tins, and these again into air-
tight tin uniform cases, with plenty of naphthaline, and packed
them oft' by sea to England, where they arrived in a most satis-
factory state. — C. A. Sykes, Capt. R.H.A.]
278 THE ENTOMOLOGIST.
Family Danaid^.
1. TiRUMALA PETivERANA {Doiihl. dj Hsivits.). — a, 3'. UsogR ;
April, 1900.
2. Danais chrysippus (Linn.). — a, $. Lamogi ; November,
1899. h, 3 . Wadelai ; January-March, 1900.
3. D. ALCiPPUs {Cram.). — a, 3. Wadelai; January-March,
1900.
4. D. KLUGii (Biitl.). — a, b, 3. Wadelai; January-March,
1900. c, ? . March from Usoga to Nandi ; April, 1900.
5. D. DORippus {King). — a, ? . March from Usoga to Nandi ;
April, 1900.
6. Amauris DAMOCLES {PciUsot cle Beciuvois). — a. March from
Usoga to Nandi ; April, 1900.
7. A. ENCELADus {Brown) . — a, $. March from Usoga to
Nandi ; April, 1900.
8. Nebroda albimaculata {Butl.). — a,h, <y ? . March from
Usoga to Nandi ; April, 1900.
Family SatYrid^.
9. Melanitis leda {Linn.), —a, $. March from Usoga to
Nandi ; April, 1900.
10. Mycalesis funebris {Guen.). — a, h, ^ ? . Wadelai ;
January-March, 1900. c, $ . March from Usoga to Nandi ;
April, 1900.
11. M. desolata, Butl. — a, h, 3" 2 . Lamogi; November,
1899.
12. M. angulosa, Butl. — a, 3 . March from Usoga to Nandi ;
April, 1900.
13. M. PBRSPicuA, Trimen. — a, 3 . March from Usoga to
Nandi ; April, 1900. b, ? . Unyoro ; March, 1900.
14. M. MIRIAM {Fahr.). — u, 3. Wadelai; January-March,
1900.
15. M. SAUssuREi, Detvitz, — a, b, 3 2 . March from Usoga to
Nandi ; April, 1900.
16. Aphysoneura pigmentaria, Karsch, Ent. Nachr. xx. p. 191
(1894). RhajMceropsis piinglei, E. M. Sharpe, P. Z.S. 1894,
p. 336, pi. 19, figs. 1,2. a. March from Usoga to Nandi ; April,
1900.
17. Ypthima albida, Butl. — a. March from Usoga to Nandi,
April, 1900.
18. Y. pupillaris, Butl. a. Wadelai ; January-March, 1900.'
19. Y. asterope {Klug). — a, 3 • Lamogi ; November, 1899.
20. Y. iTONiA, Heiuits. — a,b. Lamogi; November, 1899.
BUTTEEFLIES COLLECTED IN EQUATORIAL AFRICA. 279
Family Acr^id^.
21. AcR^A SERENA {Fabr.). — a, <? . Lamogi ; November, 1899.
b, 2 . March from Usoga to Nandi ; April, 1900.
22. A. viNiDiA, Hewits. a, b. Unyoro ; March, 1900.
23. A. BONASiA {Fabr.). — a, b. Wadelai ; January-March,
1900. c. March from Usoga to Nandi ; April, 1900.
24. A. ALICIA, E. M. Sharpe. — a. March from Usoga to Nandi;
April, 1900.
25. A. SYKESi, sp. n. — Allied to A. atergatis, Westwood, and
A. gaekivari, E.M. Sharpe; but is distinguished from the former
by the much darker ground colour, and from the latter species
by having no transparent patch on the primaries.
Primaries : Ground colour light chestnut-brown, the nervules
black, the costa, apex, and hind margin narrowly edged with
black, the cilia white ; the spots, which are all black and well
defined, are situated as follows : two in the discoidal cell, and
one at the end of the cell; just beyond this a transverse band
consisting of five spots between the nervules, the first four being
all united ; two small spots above the submedian nervure, and
one somewhat larger between the first and second median ner-
vules ; near the hind margin a row of black streaks situated be-
tween the nervules, commencing above the submedian nervure ;
the basal area suffused with brownish black. Secondaries : The
ground colour somewhat pinker in tint than that of the primaries ;
a distinct black border on the hind margin, the cilia white, the
base dusted with black, and having three distinct black spots ; an
uneven row of small black spots crossing the discal area, each spot
situated between the nervules, which are not black as in the fore
wing. Under side : Ground colour much lighter, the apical
area being paler ; all the black spots and markings as on
the upper surface, the hind marginal border being very narrow ;
near this border, situated between the nervules, are seven ochra-
ceous coloured spots or streaks, the second one from the costa
extending almost to the black transverse band on the upper side.
Secondaries pale in colour, the whole of the basal area thickly
spotted with black, and also showing some pink spots ; the black
hind marginal border relieved by half-circles of yellowish-white
spots. Expanse, 2 in. Wadelai ; January-March, 1900.
Female. — General colour of both wings more tawny brown,
the black spots on the primaries similarly situated as in the
male, but larger, the submarginal row of streaks being more
suffused ; beyond the black band, on the apical side, a paler band
is indicated. Secondaries lighter in colour, the black spots
larger, and the hind marginal border broader. Under side
agreeing exactly with that of the male above described, the pink
spots on the secondaries having faded to a more ochre-yellow.
280 THE ENTOMOLOGIST.
Expanse, 2*3 in. (Spec, ex White Nile. Consul Petherick ;
Mus. Brit.).
The collection in the Natural History Museum contains two
males from Wadelai (collected in the months of March and
April, 1887, by the late Emin Pasha), and the female above
described, from the White Nile.
26. A. CABiRA, Hopff. — a. March from Usoga to Nandi ; April,
1900.
27. A. DICE, Drury. — a. Wadelai ; January-March, 1900.
28. A. iNsiGNis, Distant. — a. March from Usoga to Nandi;
April, 1900.
29. A. PENELEOS, Ward. — a-c. March from Usoga to Nandi ;
April, 1900.
30. A. POMPONiA, Grose Smith.— a. Unyoro ; March, 1900.
31. A. NEOBULE, Douhl. d Heivits. — a. March from Usoga to
Nandi ; April, 1900.
32. A. PUDORiNA, Stand. — a, <? . March from Usoga to Nandi;
April, 1900.
33. A. NATALiCA, Boisd. — a-c, <? . March from Usoga to
Nandi ; April, 1900.
34. A. ciECiLiA {Fahr.). — a-c, $• ?. March from Usoga to
Nandi; April, 1901. d, <y . Wadelai; January-March, 1900.
(To be continued.)
MISCELLANEA RHYNCHOTALIA.— No. 5.
By G. W. Kirkaldy, F.E.S.
Fam. GERRiD.iE.
'^ Hydrometra agenor, sp. nov.
Brownish castaneous, a narrow median longitudinal very pale
bluish grey line on pronotum, apical margin of pronotum black.
Antennae (except pallid base of first segment), apex of head, &c.,
black. Abdomen above shining black, connexivum fiavo-stramineous,
extero-lateral margin narrowly black. Abdomen beneath pale fiavous,
except the dark genital segments. Legs pale flavo-fuscous, tarsi
and apices of femora and of tibiae black. Elytra lurid, nervures black.
Rostrum reaching to eyes, but not beyond ; antennae equal to about
two-thirds of insect's length ; anteocular part of bead more than twice
as long as the postocular ; head somewhat dilated at apex, scarcely so
at base ; anteocular part of head four times as long as first segment of
antennae, third more than twice as long as the fourth, four times as
long as the second, which is two-thirds longer than the first. Apex
of anterior femur scarcely reaching to apex of head. <y . Long.
13* mill.
MISCELLANEA RHYNCHOTALIA. 281
Hob. Ecuador, Guayaquil (coUn. Montandon).
Allied to H. caraiba, Guerin, but separable by the proportions
of the antennae, &c.
• ^ Hydrometra naiades, nom. nov.
= H. mensor, Champion, nee White.
Besides unimportant colour differences. Champion mentions
" anteocular portion (of head) about twice as long as the post-
ocular portion," while White describes H. mensor as "anteocular
part not quite once and a half as long." As this proportion of
the head is one of the most important characters in the specific
differentiation of Hydrometra, it is impossible, at present at least,
to retain the name mensor for Champion's species. White's type
is unfortunately lost or destroyed, as is also that of H. metator.
Rheumatometra, gen. nov.
Allied to Kallistometra, Kirk., and Halobatopsis, Bianchi, but
differing by the proportions of the antennae, legs, &c.
Suboval ; antennae short, subequal to the pronotum in the winged
form ; first segment shorter than the other three together, fourth
fusiform, one-fourth longer than the third. Apical segment of anterior
tarsi three or fourth times as long as the basal ; posterior femora
a little longer than tibiae and tarsi together ; intermediate legs very
long, tibiae longer than femora, which are a trifle longer than tarsi.
Macropterous form : Pronotum slightly convex, rounded posteriorly.
Elytra long, extending far beyond apex of abdomen.
Apterous form : Pronotum short, transverse.
R. philarete, sp. nov.*
Velvety black ; base of first segment of antennae, a large spot in
the middle of the anterior lobe of pronotum, lateral margins of the
nota, the connexivum above, coxae (in part), &c., bright luteo-fiavous.
Male anterior femora and tibiae strongly curved and somewhat in-
crassate. Female anterior femora and tibiae only slightly, if at all,
curved or iucrassate. Long, (to apex of abdomen), 3' 2|- mill., $
il mill. ; lat. <? H mill., ? 2-2^ mill. ; long, to apex of elytra, ?
e^mih.
Hab. Australia, Victoria, Alexandria (collns. Montandon
and Kirkaldy).
MiCROVELIA STELLATA, Sp. UOV.
Apparently allied to M. albonotata, Champion, but that species
is described as not having the vertex longitudinally sulculate, and
the colouring is somewhat different.
Elongate. Black ; basal half of first antenual segment, basal
three-fourths of femora pale flavescent. Anterior margin of pronotum
(entirely) fulvous. Antennae, elytra, and legs dark sienna-brown, the
'''■ I have a revision of the Gerridse in progress, where these and other
forms will be described in more detail.
282 THE ENTOMOLOGIST.
elytra being largely silvery white basally ; there are also seven or eight
much smaller silvery spots from base to apex. Beneath black, con-
nexiva fulvous. First segment of antennae distinctly longer than
second, fourth a little longer than third, which is one-fourth longer
than second. Pronotmn not carinate medianly. Long. 2i mill. ; lat.
0-85 mill.
Hab. Ecuador, Guayaquil (collns. Montandon and Kirkaldy).
Fam. Pyrrhocorid^.
AsTEMMA (Dysdercus) mimus (Say).
Jamaica (C. B. Taylor).
Fam. MiridjE.
Makua, gen. nov.
Belongs to div. Capsaria, Eeuter.
Macropterous form : Impunctate, pronotum slightly rugulose.
Vertex immarginate, not sulcate. Head strongly declivous, about as
long as high ; clypeus confluent with the front, but well separated.
Rostrum not reaching beyond intermediate coxae. First segment of
antennae extending well beyond apex of head, distinctly shorter than
the pronotum. Pronotal collar shorter than width of second antennal
segment at base. Pronotum slightly transverse. Scutellum some-
what convex. Corium without supplementary nervures ; cuneus
longer than wide at base. Greater membranal areole angulate-
rotundate. Posterior femora short, not nearly reaching apex of
abdomen, shortly hairy ; tibire with spiny bristles.
M. PSOLE, sp. nov.
Head, pronotum, scutellum, elytra, connexivum, ventral surface,
and legs sordid luteo-testaceous ; pubescence whitish. Eyes, two
basal segments of antennae, tarsi, and apex of rostrum blackish.
Clavus and corium (interiorly) dark purplish brownish; pronotum
laterally smoky. Corium intero-apically sanguineous, membrane
dilute smoky, nervures sanguineous. Clypeus and narrow sublateral
stripe on sterna sanguineous. Vertex about three-fifths wider than
an eye, rounded apically (as seen from above); second segment of
antennae three times as long as first, and twice as long as pronotum
(excluding collar). Long. 5|- mill., lat. If mill.
Mozambique, Rikatla.
Plexaris, gen. nov.
Belongs to Capsaria, Reut.
Strongly punctured. Head large, distinctly wider than half the
base of pronotum. Vertex immarginate. Eyes not widely divergent
apically. Second segment of antennae slightly incrassate apically.
Rostrum not reaching as far as posterior coxre. Pronotum widely
sinuate at the base, latero-posterior angles acute, base nearly four
times as wide as the collar, lateral margins straight, widely diverging.
Collar very slightly wider than the vertex at base. Scutellum convex.
MISCELLANEA EHYNCHOTALIA. 283
Cuneus deeply incised, major areole of membrane widely rounded
apically. Posterior femora short, not nearly reaching to apex of
abdomen ; first segment of posterior tarsi distinctly shorter than the
second, third the longest.
Allied to Deracecoris. Stal, but distinguished by the large
head, &c.
P. SATURNIDES, Sp. IIOV.
Suboval ; more or less shining black above and below ; a triangular
spot at base of vertex posterior to eyes, an elongate spot on vertex,
middle third of second segment of the antennfe, posterolateral mar-
gins of pronotum, a spot in middle of apical margin of pronotum, and
the tarsi testaceous ; a longitudinal narrow stripe on middle of basal
half of pronotum fulvous. Tibi« annulate alternately with black and
white. Rostrum fusco-testaceous, apically black. Membrane hyaline,
with a median curved band and the nervures black Long. 5 mill.,
lat. 2 mill.
Hah. Natal, Howick.
Meginoe, gen. nov.
Belongs to Capsaria.
Subelongate ; not (or only superficially) punctured. Scutellum
rugose -punctured. Head strongly declivous. Vertex immarginate,
very narrowly longitudinally sulcate, a little impressed subtransversely
near the base. Clypeus somewhat prominent, not forming a continuous
curve with the head. Eyes large, contiguous with pronotum, extending
almost to internal margins of rostrum, second as long as high (in pro-
file), posterior margin sinuately emarginate (in profile). Antennte
inserted almost at middle of eye (in profile). First segment of rostrum
reaching to about the middle of prosternum, fourth segment extending
beyond posterior coxae. Pronotum one-half wider than head and eyes,
base two and three-quarter times as wide as collar ; one-third longer
than length of head (profile) ; base subsinuately rounded widely ; two
small sharply marked rounded tuberculate callosities ; lateral margins
not reflexed. Collar somewhat narrow. Stink-orifices large, suboval,
subauriculate. Major areole of membrane narrowly rounded apically.
Cuneus longer than broad at base.
Not very closely allied to any other genus.
M. HOVANA, sp. nov.
Hairy and pubescent. Head pale sordid flavous, multistriate sub-
rotundately, and clouded transversely with sanguineous. Pronotum
pale luteo-flavous, mottled with brownish. Two snbconfluent dark
brown blotches in the middle of the basal margin of the pronotum ;
callosities black. Three apical segments of rostrum and the stink-
orifices testaceous. Scutellum blackish brown, posterior angles pallid.
Elytra fuscous, cuneus blackish brown, a broad curved pale yellow
band across the middle. Membrane hyaline, fumate, nervures fuscous.
Underneath pale fusco-fulvous, darkening laterally. Eyes prominent,
each as wide as — or a little wider than — vertex between them. Vertex
284 THE KNTOMOLOGIST.
(as seen from above) rounded anteriorly. ? . Long. 7 mill., lat.
2^ mill.
Hah. Madagascae, Diego Suarez.
GuTRiDA, gen. nov.
Belongs to Capsaria.
Suboval ; glabrous, abdomen above, &c., sparsely pubescent; pro-
notum and elytra punctured. Vertex marginate. Head vertical, about
twice as wide (in profile) as high. Eyes (profile) more than one-half
of the length of the head ; first segment of antennae extending beyond
apex of head, inserted within the apical margin of the eyes. First
segment of rostrum very short, reaching a little beyond base of head.
Eyes contiguous with pronotum. Pronotum declivous, not or only
very slightly callose anteriorly ; base widely rounded (subsinuately),
more than two and a half times as wide as the length of the first seg-
ment of antennae, about four times as wide as collar, not quite twice
as wide as head and eyes together. Lateral margins of elytra a little
rounded, apical margin of corium extero-laterally reaching somewhat
beyond base of cuneus, the latter a little declivous ; membranal ner-
vures angulately rotundate apically. Posterior femora not much
stouter than the other pairs. Tarsi with bristly spines.
G. GABONIA, Sp. nov.
Head, pronotum, and scutellum flavous, a subbasal elongate
blackish brown spot in the middle. Eyes red-brown. Anterior angles
of scutellum fumate. Elytra pale sordid yellowish, lateral margins of
clavus widely dark, apical margin of corium clouded irregularly with
brownish. Base and apex of cuneus blackish brown, membranal
nervures fuscous. Head rounded apically (seen from above). Long.
6 mill., lat. 2i mill.
Hob. Gaboon (ex coll. Montandon).
(To be continued.)
NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS.
GoNEPTERYx RHAMNi, AB. — Mr. Sabine, of Erith, has kindly sent for
inspection an example of G. rhamni, which is apparently a female,
but the fore wings are tinged with the male colour, especially at the
base and on the costal and hind marginal areas ; the hind wings are
very similar in colour to those of the male. The specimen was taken
this year in the New Forest by Mr. L. W. Newman.
LYCiENA coRYDON AB. — Grouud colour of all the wings blackish.
Fore wings have a black centred white discal spot and a series of six
quadrate white spots on the submarginal area ; the latter are dusted
with black atoms, especially the lower three of the series, and are
traversed by an interrupted, blackish, diffuse line extending from the
inner margin to the third spot ; the basal and central areas are heavily
dusted with blue scales. The markings on the hind wings are some-
CAPTURES AND FIELD REPORTS. 285
what similar to those of the fore wings, but the white spots on sub-
marginal area are smaller and not so well defined ; marginal spots
white with blackish centres. The under surface of all the wings is
very like that of a normal male. The specimen was taken at Wrotham
in August last by Mr. W. A. Carter, and is now in the possession of
Mr. Sabine.
Variety of Vanessa antiopa. — One of the imagines resulting from
a batch of German larvae of Vanessa antiopa bred by me this season is
rather a remarkable variety, of which I can find no mention in my
entomological books. On the upper wings there is a complete absence
of the blue spots, and on each of the lower wings there is only one
small blue spot. The specimen is somewliat smaller than the normal
ones of the same brood, and I had noticed a sort of indentation on the
wing-cases of the pupa, which led me to fear that the imago might not
emerge. However, though it was not the first to pupate, it came
through first, on July the 24th, having been sixteen days in the pupa
state. — F. A. Oldaker ; Parsonage House, Dorking, Sept. 23rd, 1902.
Typhlocyba coloradensis in Mexico. — Dr. Bonansea Silvio has
just sent me numerous specimens of this grape-vine leaf-hopper,
collected at Cuidad Porfirio Diaz, Mexico. The insect is common in
New Mexico, but is, I believe, new to the fauna of Mexico. — T. D. A.
Cockekell ; Sept. 16th, 1902.
CAPTURES AND FIELD REPORTS.
CoLiAS EDUSA AT Bexhill. — In August last I took C. ednsa near
Bexhill — one male on the 13th, another male on the 16th, and a
male and two females on the 20th. — P. Towell ; Homesdale Road,
Teddington.
CoLiAs HYALE AND C. EDUSA IN Kent. — As far as I caii ascertain, only
the early brood (consisting of immigrants) of 0. hyale has appeared
this year at Sheerness, the headquarters of this species. My in-
formant, Mr. E. Griffiths, very kindly sent me all his captures, which
amounted to seven specimens, consisting of six males and one female
(which proved infertile). These he captured on June 27th, 29th, and
July 12th. He now informs me he has not seen one C. hijale since the
latter date, and tbat C. edusa has been scarce, having only seen ten
altogether, three of them in June. The above is interesting, showing
how unsuitable a cold English summer is for the existence of these
butterflies.— F. W. Frohawk ; October, 1902.
I noticed two specimens of Colias edusa at Folkestone in August of
this year, on the golf links. — Harold Hodge ; 9, Highbury Place, N.
While staying at Folkestone the first fortnight of September, I
captured a few Colias edusa, one var. helice, and four C. lujale. — -W. E.
Butler ; Hayling House, Reading, October 4th, 1902.
Colias edusa, &c., in Sussex. — My boy caught here, in September
last, four male C. ednsa, in quite fresh condition ; also about six
Vansesa cardiii, and four V. io, in equally good condition. The latter
insect only turns up occasionally here. It has been a very bad year
for insects ; treacle and light absolutely useless. I collect on my
286 THE ENTOMOLOGIST.
small estate of four hundred acres, on which are about a hundred
acres of wood, chiefly oak. Since I came here, five years ago, my
experience has been very disappointing. Both treacle and light seem
to be losing tlieir power of attracting. I shall be glad to hear from
some of your correspondents, whether they have had a similar expe-
rience in other parts of the country. I live about two miles and three-
quarters from Hayward's Heath, in a country which looks very suit-
able for collectmg, but I have not found it so. V. atalanta has been
very scarce this year, as it was last. Two years ago it swarmed. —
A. H. Rydon ; Awbrook, Lindfield, Sussex, Oct. 4th.
CoLiAs EDusA IN CORNWALL. — I noticed two specimens of C. edusa
in September of this year, on the West Cornwall golf-links at Lelant,
Hayle, Cornwall. — Harold Hodge ; 9, Highbury Place, N.
Sesia myopiformis in London. — I took a perfect specimen of S.
myopifurnm in the garden of this house early in June last. There
are several pear-trees in the gardens about here, one quite close by
of great size and age. But, though I have observed the insects in this
garden for over fourteen years, I have never seen S. wyopiforinis here
before. — Harold Hodge ; 9, Highbury Place, N.
Capture of Sesia allantiformis, Newm. (= andreniformis, Lasp.)
in Dorsetshire. — On August 23rd I swept a male of this grand
addition to our county fauna at Glanvilles Wootton, oft' feverfew
flowers. This enables me to state that my specimen from the New
Forest, recorded as Sesi/i conopifuniiis (Entom. vol. xxvii. pp. 245, 342 ;
vol. xxix. p. 185), is the female of S. andreniformu. Laspeyres, in his
work on European Sesiida;, states that he has not seen the female.
This sex differs from the male in having three instead of two yellow
rings round the abdomen, and in having a black anal tuft with a few
yellow hairs on each side instead of the yellow tuft so characteristic
of the male. Like the male, the femora are violet black, but the
tibial portions of the legs are yellow-
Previous records of S. allantiformis: — 1. By Mr. Chant, in a wood
near Greenhithe, in July, 1829 (Ent. Mag. vol. i. p. 80). 2. By Mr.
Harding, also near Greenhithe, in July, 1846 (' Zoologist,' vol. iv.
p. 1515). 3. By Piev. A. H. Wratislaw, between Dover and Folkestone,
in 1859 (Entom. vol. iv. p. 214). 4. By Rev. A. M. Matthews, near
Market Harborough, in 1868 (Newman's ' Moths,' p. 15). 5. By Master
Jenney, near Tring, on July 15th, 1876 (Entom. vol. ix. p. 204). 6. By
R. C. L. Perkins, at Wootton-under-Edge, in 1886 (Entom. vol. xx.
p. 108). 7. Two, by Mr. Davis, at Dover, on July 10th and 14th, 1889
(Entom. vol. xxii. p. 211). — C. W. Dale ; Glanvilles Wootton,
August 27th, 1902.
PiERis daplidice IN SussEx. — Mr. A. Wood records in the ' Field '
the capture of /'. daplidice on August 29tli, 1902, near the racecourse
at Brighton.— F. W. F.
Papilio machaon in Berks. — Mr. A. Wood reports in the ' Field '
a specimen of P. viachaon captured near Wellington College station in
July, 1902.— F. W. F.
Lyc^na argiolus at Rotherhithe. — I captured a male specimen
CAPTUEES AND FIELD REPORTS. 287
of L. arfiiolus in this vicarage garden on Aug, 22nd last, as it was
flying around some ivy, of which there is a quantity in the garden ;
one Pieris napi and a few Vanessa urtica also seen here. There is
nothing like a garden nearer here than Southwark Park, which is a
good mile away. — H. W. Sweeting ; Holy Trinity Vicarage, Eother-
hithe, S.E., Oct. 17th, 1902.
DicYCLA 00, &c. IN Middlesex. — On July 27th I took D. oo at rest
on the trunk of an oak at Palmer's Green. I should like to know if
this insect has been taken in Middlesex before. I also took, on Sept.
3rd, Cahjmnia difflnis and Noctua c-ni<iru.m, in the same locality, at
sugar, and a friend of mine took Pararge mq/ccra at Potter's Bar on
Sept. 7th. — Laurence S. Hodson ; 8, The Villas, Palmer's Green,
Sept 11th, 1902.
DicYCLA 00 IN Kent. — I was very pleased to read of Mr. Browne's
capture of this species near Chislehurst, as recorded in the last
number {a)ite, p. 267). It occurred very plentifully at Bromley (adjacent
to Chislehurst) in 1888, when the late Mr. Collins, of that town, took
a great number at sugar, a portion of my own series being some of
them ; but, strange to say, in spite of much annual sugaring near the
" old" ground (now built over), it has never been seen since, to my
knowledge, so that Mr. Browne's record proves without a doubt that
it still occurs near its old locality.— A. J. Lawrance ; 76, Samos
Koad, Anerley, S.E. (late of Lady well).
Deilephila livornica IN South Devon. — On July 22nd last, just
as I was leaving home for Devonshire, I received from Starcross a full-
grown Sphingid larva, found by a boy as it was crawling in a lane.
At first sight this appeared to me closely to resemble the dark form of
Deilephila (jalii. On arriving at my destination I supplied it with
Galium, verum and G. molliKjo, but it had ceased feeding, and made at
once preparation for pupating. It then occurred to me that the time
was too early for D. galii, and later on, when referring to my books, I
found that the description of D. livornica tallied with my larva. On
Sept. 27th, however, all my existing doubts were dispelled, as on that
day a perfect imago of D. livornica emerged. During a recent visit to
Starcross I ascertained the locality, Avhich is a lane where G. molliujo
grows in profusion, on which the larva had probably been feeding. I
am told that there is no record of this rare moth having been
previously found in the larval state in Britain. — J. Jager; 65, Saint
Quintin's Avenue, North Kensington, Oct. 4th, 1902.
Chcerocampa celerio in Hampshire. — On Sept. 27th I had a living
specimen of C. celerio brought to me to name, by Miss Stevenson, of
Reading (a young collector), who informed me it was sent to her, by
post, by some friends who know nothing about entomology, and was
taken on Lady Munday's estate, Emsworth, Hants, two days pre-
viously. — W. E. Butler; Hayliug House, Oxford Eoad, Eeading,
Oct. 5th, 1902.
Late Emergence of Cucullia asteris. — This species generally
emerges in June, July, and the early part of August, the larvas in the
Essex marshes being found on Aster tripolium until quite late in
September. This year the imago has continued to emerge during
288 THE ENTOMOLOGIST.
September, culminating with a very fine perfect specimen bred to-day,
September 23rd. This seems to me worthy of record, as the progeny
of such late specimens would assuredly perish, as even by the time
when the ova hatched the flowers of the sea aster and the alternative
food-plant Solidai/o virgaurea would be unobtainable. — (Rev.) Gilbert
H. Eaynor; Hazeleigh Eectory, Maldon, Essex, Sept. 23rd, 1902.
Mesotype virgata (lineolata) in BERKsmRE. — I am very pleased to
add this species to the list of Lepidoptera occurring in the county of
Berks. I took one example on August 4th last, on one of the chalk
hills near Streatley. — W. E. Butler ; Hayling House, Reading, Oct.
4th, 1902.
Agrotis obelisca : a Correction. — The species recorded by me as
Aijrotis obelisca [ante, p. 269) has been wrongly determined, and I now
find that it is A. tritici. I much regret having been led into this error
of identification. — G. B. Browne.
Agkilus sinuatus in Hampshire. — During the second week in
August this year, I had the fortuue to take eleven specimens of A.
sinuatus. Two were sunning themselves on some sallow leaves, the
rest I obtained off one hawthorn bush by beating. This was in Hurst
Wood, near Lyndhurst, New Forest. I beat a good many shrubs and
trees, but came upon no more of this species. I should like to know
upon what the larvffi feed. I and my companion also beat three
Acronycta ahii larvffi in their final skin, and two Stauropus fac/i in
their second skin. — F.N. Hitchcock; Ben Omar, South Road, Clapham
Park, S.W.
Three Weeks in South Dorset. — Early in July, Dr. H. M.
Stewart and I started off for a holiday in South Dorset, determined
to spend a large portion of our time in entomological pursuits. The
subjoined list of one hundred and forty-two species of Lepidoptera
show that there is a large variety of insects to be met with there, and
had the weather been kinder there is no doubt that the list would have
been largely augmented.
Of the butterflies, Hesperia actceou was exceedingly plentiful in its
restricted localities, while Mcianan/ia >ialatea and Satijras semele
swarmed on the clifi'-sides. Limenitis sibylla was seen in sheltered
situations near the woods, and Picris 7iapi was coming out in numbers
as we left. EucheUa jaeobaw was very common in the lanes, while the
woods gave us plenty of Lithosia deplana and L. lurideola. Sugaring,
sadly interfered with by stormy winds, yielded Agrotis luniyera,
Thyatira derasa, and the commonest insects at it being Dipteryyia sca-
briuscula, Ayrotis exclamationis, and Xylophasia monoylypha {^pohjodon).
Fences and trunks produced Hccatera serena and Hadena dentina in
considerable numbers, also Cucullia umbratica and numerous Geo-
metrid moths. The heaths swarmed with Plnsia gamma, while both
Anarta myrtilll and Ileliothis dipsacea were in some numbers. June
would, I believe, be a very good month there in a normal season, and
we hope to test it another year.
Rhopalocera : — Pieris brassica, P. rapcB, P. napi, Argynnis euphro-
syne, A. aglaia, A. adippe, Vanessa urtica', V. atalanta, V. cardui,
Limenitis sibylla, Melanargia galatea, Satyrus semele, Epinephele ianira,
CAPTURES AND FIELD REPORTS. 289
E. tit/ionus, Coenonympha pamphilus, Thecla rubi, Chrywphaims phlccus,
LyccBua agon, L. icanis, Hesperia actceon, H. sylvanus.
Heterocera : — H.einaris fmiformis, Trochiliam crabroniforiids, Zyycena
lonlcerce, Lithusia deplana, L. lurideola, Emydia cribrum, Euchelia
jacobcece, Spilosonia lubricipeda, Hepialus humuli, H. hectus, Porthesia
siniilis, Malacosoma neustria, Odonestis Rotatoria, Thyatira batis, T.
derasa, Acronycta psi, A. aceris, A. megacephala, Leucania cunigera, L.
lithargyria, L. comma, L. impara, L, pallens, Xylophasia lithoxylea, X.
monoglypka, X. heputlca, Dipteryyia scabriuscida, Cerigo matura, Ma-
viestra surdida, M. brassica, Apamea didyma, Miana strigilis, M. bicoloria,
Graminesia trigrammica , Caradrina mor'pheus, C. alsines, C. taraxaci,
Rusina tenebrosa. Agrotis suffusa, A. segetum, A. lunigera, A. exclama-
tionis, A. corticea, A. nigricans, Noctua triangidum, Triphana ianthina,
T. fimbria, T. comes, T. prontiba, Orthosia upsilon, Hecatera serena, Eu-
plexla lucipera, PhlogopJiora meticulosa, Apiecta nebidosa, Hadena den-
tina, H. trifolii, H. oleracea, Cucullia umbratica, Gonoptera libatrix,
Habrostola tripartita, Plusia gamma, Anarta myrtilU, Heliothis dipsacea,
Acontia luctuosa, Phytometra viridaria, Zanclognatha tarsipennalis, Hy-
pena proboscidalis, Uropteryx samhucaria, Ramia luteolata, Metrocampa
margaritaria, Ellopia prosapiaria, Pericallia syringaria, Amphidasys be-
tularia, Boarmia repandata, B. gemmaria, Tephrosiabiundularia, Gnophos
obscuraria, Pseiidoterpiui pruinata, Nemoria viriduta, Hemithea strigata,
Acidalia dimidiata, A. bisetata, A. dilutaria, A. virgnlaria, A. margine-
punctnta, A. imitaria, A. aversata, Cabera pusaria, C. exanthemata,
Macaria litiirata, Bupalus piniaria. Abraxas grossidariata, Lomaspilis
marginata, Lareiitia viridaria, Enpithecia castigata, E. subnotata, E.
minutata, E. tenuiata, E. pumilata, Thera variata, T. firmata, Hypsi-
petes sordidata, Melanthia bicolorata, M. ocellata, M. albicdlata, Melanippe
procellata, M. unnngulata, M. rivata, M. sociata, M. galiata, M.Jiuctuata,
Anticlea rubidata, Camptogramma bilineata, Phibalapteryx tersata, Ci-
daria immanata, C. dotata, C. associata, Eubolia limituta, E. plumbaria,
Anaitis plagiata, Tanagra atrata. — E. E. B. Prest ; Arva, Dacres
Road, Forest Hill, S.E.
Lepidoptera at the New Forest in June. — So much has been
said and written of this glorious hunting-ground that I am afraid I
can add little that will be of interest. I arrived at Brockenhurst on
June 15th, and my first capture was Hadena genistce, at rest on a
paling, on my way to our rooms. Needless to say, perfect insects
were very backward, and the species that are usually so plentiful in
this district at this time of the year were conspicuous by their absence.
Larva)-beating (which I went principally for), on the other hand, was
fairly profitable, the following species occurring — mostly from oak —
every day during my stay: — Thecla qiicrcus, common ; Limcnitis sibylla,
larvte and pupae fairly plentiful on honeysuckle around tree-trunks ;
Nola striguln, fairly plentiful, very few emerging after successfully
pupating ; Liparis aurifina and L. vionacha, very common ; Lithosia
quadra, plentiful, but fearful cannibals in confinement ; Malacosoma
neustria, occasionally; Pericallia syringaria, a few on honeysuckle;
Himera pennaria, Phigalia pilosaria, and Amphidasys prodromaria, all
plentiful ; Cleora lichenaria and C. glabraria, occasionally on the
lichens, but difficult to find ; Phorodesma bajiilaria, very scarce, I only
ENTOM.— NOVEMBER, 1902. 2 A
290 THE ENTOMOLOGIST.
got two ; easily overlooked, owing to its remarkable resemblance to
refuse and bits of dead leaves, &c., with whicli it covers itself;
Ckeimatobia brumata, in swarms, a positive nuisance ; several species
of the genus Eupithecia, difficult to recognize, possibly E. iriu/iiata
occasionally ; hlybemia defoliaria, very common, difficult to get into
pupae successfully ; Petasia cassinea, a few at night on blackthorn, &c. ;
Notoilonta chaonia, occasionally, from oak ; Cymatophora flavicomis,
very local — I got seventeen full-fed larvae from a solitary birch in
Stubby Copse on June 20th ; C, ridens, very few compared with other
years ; several species of Tteniocampa, especially 2\ vdniosa, rather
common; Ancliocelis ru/ina, occasionally; Scopelosoma satellitia, very
common ; often found in one's pockets after a day's beating; the same
remarks applying to (Josmia trapezina ; Ai/ri.opis apiilina, sometimes
at sugar at dusk. Catacola promissa and C spunsa were also plentiful,
and I successfully reared all those I obtained. I was too late for
heather-searching, and missed Agrotis agnthina and Noctua negiecta,
although I did obtain one full-fed larva of the former on my return
home across the naoor on June 19tli, but it unfortunately died. Why
is this species so difficult to rear '? I have tried them now for several
years in succession, but without any success. Genista angelica pro-
duced Pseudoterpna nji.i.saria. which were very plentiful, especially near
Jones's Enclosure, Lyndhurst, and at the foot of Hurst Hill, Brocken-
hurst. What struck me very much on entering the enclosures was
the fearfully barren state of the oak. Gazing at the gaunt leafless
branches overhead reminded one more of Christmas than of mid-
summer. Late frosts and countless larvte had, no doubt, wrought the
mischief. It is really a marvel how the latter thrived at all on
practically bare branches (which when beaten, strange to say, produced
the most larvae). Probably the lichens are resorted to as a last resource
by larvte. Butterflies were few, only Arijynnis euphrosyne, Gonepteryx
rh'inmi, and Syrichthtis alveolus appearing in any numbers worth
mentioning, with occasionally a stray Neineobius litcina just to relieve
the monotony. Macrothylacia rubi (males) were occasionally seen, and
on June 18th a turf-cutter gave me a very nice female, which he had
found on the heather. Lithosia rnbricollis made up for many dis-
appointments ; I was fortunate enough to take forty altogether, mostly
found drying their wings on bracken at Aldridge and Hurst Hill.
Macroylossa fuciforinis and M. bombyliformis were fairly plentiful on
sunny days in the Ornamental Drive, Ehinefields, at rhododendron
and azalea bloom. At light, the only visitors that put in an appear-
ance were Ckelonia villica (very fresh) and a few "daddy long-legs."
Lastly, at sugar the following occurred: — First and foremost "ye
hornet," and extremely formidable ones too; and then, in their
Doubl. List order: ChcBroccimpa elpencn-, several each evening ; Lithosia
rnbricollis, one ; Thyatira batis, common ; Diphthera orion, three,
turning up about 10 p.m. ; Miana strigilis, two ; Grammesia trilinea,
three, and one var. bilinea ; Tienincampa gothica, one, just out ap-
parently, and two months overdue ; Euplexia lucipara, one ; Aplecta
herbida, common ; and Erastria fuscula, common and easily mistaken
for M. strigilis. Several species of Coleoptera, Diptera, &c., occurred,
but, as I do not collect these, I am sorry to say I cannot name them ;
some were new to me, and most extraordinary. As was the case last
SOCIETIES. 291
year, sugaring was very bad indeed, the results being extremely poor.
Leucania turca, which I felt almost certain of getting, was either not
out, or extinct, at Hurst Hill. The weather, too, talfen ou the whole,
was shocknig — rain almost every day ; so, packing up my baggage, I
left on Tuesday, June 24th, having only spent ten days in Brocken-
hurst, where I had intended spending a whole fortnight. — A. J.
Lawrance; 65, Malyon Road, Ladywell, S.E., Sept. 16th, 1902.
SOCIETIES.
Entomological Society of London, — October 1st, 1902. — The Rev.
Canon Fowler, M.A., D.Sc, F.L.S., President, in the chair.— Mr. H.
St. J. Donisthorpe exhibited specimens of Dibolia cynoglossi, taken
by him near Pevensey on the 11th August last. He said that the
beetle had not been recorded as British since 1866. — Mr. 0. E.
Janson exhibited a fine hermaphrodite specimen of Arijiinnis paphia,
taken in the New Forest by Mr. Herbert Cliarles ou July 28th,
and recorded in the ' Entomologist ' ; also a melanic specimen
of Papilio demolem, from Ceylon, in which all the usual marginal
and submarginal yellow markings were absent and the discal mark-
ings much obscured ; on the under side the yellow markings were
entirely wanting. — Mr. C. P. Pickett exhibited a male Callimorpha
dominiila with the hind wings suffused with black, and an extra black
spot in the centre, tlie white spot on the fore wings being absent ; and
a very large female of the same species, both bred from larvae found
at Walmer at the end of March ; and three aberrant specimens of
Triphcena fimbria, bred from larvffi taken at Wood Street during the
same month. — Mr. C. 0. Waterhouse exhibited specimens of a wasp
[Zethus cliahjheus) and a neuropteron (Mantissa semihyalina), received
with a collection of Hymenoptera from Rio Janeiro, suggesting a
curious case of mimicry. — Mr. F. B. Jennings exhibited specimens of
Hister merdarius, from Broxbourne, Herts, part of a large colony of
this usually scarce species found with H. Vl-striabus and other beetles
inhabiting a heap of a chemical substance, probably gas-lime, in
which also many larvffi, presumably of H. merdarius, and burrows,
were observed. The soil was warm and moist, and this, and the
presence of a quantity of vegetable refuse thrown on the heap, was no
doubt the attraction to the Histers to settle there. — Mr. A. J. Chitty
exhibited a specimen of Metoecm paradoxus with a part of the cells of
a nest of Vespa vulfjaris, in which place the beetle is invariably found.
The beetle in the cell tucks in his head, only displaying on the surface
the thorax, which is coloured similarly to the face of the wasp. This
peculiarity suggests a case of mimicry, and Professor Poulton, F.R.S.,
said that it fitted in with the case of some other bees and wasps. —
Mr. H. Rowland-Brown exhibited, on behalf of Mr. Gr. P. Leigh, of
Durban, a female and male specimen of a rare noctuid, Mus(/ravia
leighi, Hampson, discovered by him in Natal, and read remarks upon
the life-history of the species, communicated by the captor. — Mr.
Stanley W. Kemp exhibited two additions to the British list of Coleo-
ptera — Bembidium aryentiulum, from Lough Neagh, Armagii ; and
292 THE ENTOMOLOGIST.
Lamostenua complanatiis, from the neighbourhood of Dublin — taken iu
June, 1902. — Mr. W. J. Kaye exhibited examples of Heliconhis lindiyii,
H. antiochus, and MorpJio achilles, from British Guiana, with notches
taken out of the hind wings, presumably by birds ; to illustrate that
these distasteful or warning-coloured species are subject to attack, this
helping to show that experimental tasting, as propounded by the
Miillerian theory of mimicry, does exist and go on. — Professor L. C.
Miall, F.E.S., communicated a paper by Mr. T. H. Taylor, M.A.,
entitled "The Tracheal System of Simnlmm." — Professor Augusta
Forel, M.D., communicated a paper entitled "Descriptions of some
Ants from the Eocky Mountains of Canada (Alberta and British
Columbia) collected by Edward Whymper." — Dr. T. A. Chapman
read a paper entitled "On Heteroyynis paradoaa." — H. Goss and
H. EowLAND- Brown, Ho7i. Secretaries.
October 15i/t.— Professor Edward B. Poulton, M.A., D.Sc, F.E.S.,
Vice-President, in the chair. — Mr. A. J. Cliitty showed an entirely
black specimen of Metoecm paradoxus, as tending to disprove the
mimicry suggested by him at the meeting on Oct. 1st. Dr. Chapman
said that in his experience one out of every six specimens of this
species was black. Mr. Donisthorpe stated that out of about one
hundred specimens he had never caught or bred a black Metoecus. —
Mr. E. P. Pickett exhibited a variety of the female of Aryynnis aylaia,
varieties of Satyms iairira, and a long series of Lyccena corydon, taken
near Folkestone and Dover in August last, including four males of
the last-named species, with the black band on the edge of the fore
wings much deeper than usual ; also twelve dwarf male specimens of
this species, four dwarf females, and many other aberrant forms.
Mr. Goss said this dwarf form of L. corydon occurred constantly,
according to Mr. Sydney Webb, in one valley about two miles east of
Dover, but he was unaware of its regular occurrence elsewhere in
this country. He remarked that a dwarf form of L. ariun occurred
wherever the type was found, both in Gloucestershire and Cornwall.
Professor Poulton, Dr. Chapman, and Mr. Sloper also remarked on
the dwarf forms of L. corydon. — Dr. Chapman exhibited specimens of
Notodonta (Hybocawjni) dryinopa from Queensland. It was remarkably
similar in appearance, structure, and habits to Hybocampa milhauseri
(see ' Entomologist,' 1889, and p. 43 of 1902). He stated that the
pupa with a similar spine to that of H. milhauseri does not cut out a
regular oval lid from the cocoon like that species, but by a stabbing
process pierces it with a number of holes, so that a piece is more
easily pushed off. The cocoon being covered with bits of bark, stone,
&c., a cutting process would be impossible, whereas the cocoon of
H. milhauseri was of pure gum-like silk. He pointed out that the
larva much resembled that of H. wilhanseri, but the hinder segments
were more like those of Stauropus fayi. He also exhibited living eggs,
larvfe, and imagines of Orina tristis var. smaragdina, from Pino, Lago
Maggiore. The beetles, since they were taken on May 30th, had laid
many eggs. Dr. Chapman said that the embryo, ready to hatch, might
be seen within some of the eggs, and its hatching spines observed.
Mr. Sloper exhibited a specimen of Lycana hylas, said to have been
caught at Dover on the 7tli September last. — Mr. Martin Jacoby com-
municated a paper entitled " A further Contribution to our Knowledge
SOCIETIES. 293
of African Phytophagous Coleoptera." — Mv. Malcohii Burr read a com-
muuication from Hofrath Dr. Carl Brunner von Wattenwyl, entitled
" Observations sur le nom generique Acrida." — H. Goss, Hon. Secretary.
South London Entomological and Natural History Society. —
September 11th. — The President in the chair. — Mr. South exhibited
a series of PygcEra curtnla, bred from ova laid by a large silver-grey
female taken at Batchworth. The larvae were fed on poplar, and the
imagines were all small and dark in colour. — Mr. Turner, two Longicorn
Coleoptera taken by Mr. Tutt at Torre Pellice — viz. Cerambyx herns
(cerdo) and Pnrpuricenus koehleri. — Mr. Kemp, numerous species of
Coleoptera taken in the New Forest in August, including Prionus
coriarius, Halyzia 16-guttata, Abdera bifasciata, Bembidium decorum,
Tomoxia biyuttata, and Denmectes latus. — Dr. Chapman, examples of
theHesperid Heteropterusniorpheus, from St. Jean de Luz, and cases and
imagines of the Psychid Oreopsyche leschenaulti from San Sabastian.
September 25th. — The President in the chair. — Dr. Chapman ex-
hibited typical examples of Euchelia jacubcecB, bred from larvae found at
Bejar, and stated that the black bands or rings of the larvae were
broken into four black marks. — Mr. Kaye, a short series of Leucania
albipimcta, from the Isle of Wight, taken this year. Mr. Kirkaldy, a
remarkable case of insect mimicry in a number of Brazilian Rhyn-
chota. Mabelia pulcherrima, a new species of Mirid^, was shown with
the Pyrrhocorine Theraneis oleosus, from Costa Rica, and T. hiridus,
from Brazil. — Mr. Kemp, species taken by him at various field-meet-
ings of the Society : — Wisley, July 5th, Coleoptera : Donacia thalassina,
Pcederus riparius, Agrihis anynstatus, Xyloborus dryophayus, and Anthero-
phagiis nigricornis. Odonata : Orthetriim carulescens. Epping Forest,
Sept. 20th, Coleoptera : Zeiigophora Jiavicollis and Ilyhius fenentrattis
Oxshott, Sept. 6th, Coleoptera : Hydaticus seminiger, Pelubius tardus,
Ilybius ater, PJiantus hutriatus, Bidessus geininus, Hydroporus tristis, H .
umbiosus, and Ccelambus inipresso-puuctatus. — Mr. Lucas, a coloured
sketch of a var. of Asphalia ridens, bred from the New Forest. The
contrast of light and dark markings was unusually strong. He also
showed a specimen of a very rare Dipteron, Physocephala nigra, and a
female of Kctobia lapponica, w'ith its egg-capsule, which it had carried
protruding for five days before dropping it. Mr. Colthrup, Lasiocampa
quercus vars. (1), with splashes of yellow at base of fore wings ; (2),
male with male antennae and wings, but body showing ova through
abdomen ; (3), with yellow band on hind wing extending to fringes ;
also Agrotis corticea, with a white submarginal band on the fore
wings. — Mr. Lucas read the report of the field-meeting held at Wisley
on July 5th, and exhibited lantern slides to illustrate his remarks.
October 9th. — The President in the chair. — Mr. Jennings, four rare
species of Coleoptera : — Cathormiocenis socius, from Sandown, Isle of
Wight; Gymnetron liniaritB, horn Southport ; Paris lapidii, trom. l^d-
monton Marsh ; and Hister vierdarius, from Broxbourne. — Mr. Kemp,
examples of Curabus violaceus var. exasperatus, from North Cornwall
and the New Forest. — Mr. R. Adkin, a Cossus ligniperda from the same
fence referred to in the ' Proceedings ' for 1889 and 1900, and read
notes. — Dr. Chapman, imagines, pupae, and cocoons of Hybocampa
(^Notodonta) dryinopa, from Queensland. — Mr. South, four aberrations of
294 THE ENTOMOLOGIST.
the female of Lycmna cort/don, including two fine examples of var. syn-
(jrapha ; all were taken by the Rev. C. A. Sladen, in Wiltshire. He also
exhibited, on behalf of Mr. Robinson, of Boscombe, Hants, L. minima,
almost devoid of markings on the under surface, from Swanage, and
Ematurga atomaria, a melanic male from Bournemouth. Zonosoma
jjeiidtilaiia, four specimens from Market Drayton, of a dark gray form,
said by Mr. Woodforde to be typical of the district ; also a specimen of
the rare Pyralia iieni(jialis taken near Oxford, Aug. 22nd, 1902, and sent
to Mr. South for identification, by Mr. Robinson. — Mr. Clark, a large
number of slides illustrative of his paper entitled "Contributions to
the life-history of Argulus fnliaceus, the parasite of the stickleback." —
Hy. J. Turner {Hon. Rep. Secretary).
RECENT LITERATURE.
Cataloyue of the described Orthoptera of the United States and Canada.
By S. H. Scudder. (Proc. of the Davenport Acad, of Nat.
Sciences, vol. viii.) Oct. 1899.
Though somewhat late in reaching us, this useful pamphlet is not
less welcome. We find that the total number of species at present
known for the United States and Canada is about eight hundred and
fifty- six, nearly double that given in Brunuer's ' Prodromus ' for
Europe, while of course there is more scope for additions there than
in Europe. Four of the earwigs, five cockroaches, and the house
cricket are either British insects, or have at least been taken here.
What appears to be a useful synonymy accompanies each species, and
there is an appendix giving descriptions of eleven new species, and
illustrated by three good plates.
W. J. L.
The Tettigidm of North America. By Joseph Lane Hancock.
Chicago. 1902.
Preceded by an excellent and lengthy introduction treating of the
habits, anatomy, &c., of a family of rather curious grasshoppers, and
followed by many notes on vivarium experiments, this splendidly got
up monograph of one hundred and ninety pages will be read with
interest by all students of the Orthoptera who are able to procure it.
Each species, some eighty- seven in all, is fully treated, and the work
is enriched by a number of illustrations in the text, and eleven plates,
several being very beautifully executed photogravures. Periodically
revisions and monographs of parts of the American Orthoptera appear.
Li the pages of the ' Entomologist,' Scudder's ' Revision of the Mela-
nopli ' has already been noticed, while we have before us an excellent
illustrated ' Revision of the Truxalinse of North America,' by Mr.
Jerome McNeill (Nov. 1895), which has not previously been noticed in'
these pages. The treatment of the latest group to be looked after —
the Tettigidfe — shows up well in company with the rest.
W. J. L.
RECENT LITERATURE. 295
Fa line Analytiqiie illustree des Orthopteres de France. By C. Houlbert.
Paris. 1900.
The present is a suitable opportunity for calling attention to a
cheap publication extracted from the ' Feuille des Jeunes Naturalistes,'
annee 1900. It consists of short descriptions of the French Ortho-
ptera, and a very large number of sufficiently well-drawn figures. As
the French Orthoptera contains practically the whole of the British,
this treatise should be of considerable use to British orthopterists as
well as to their French brethren.
W. J. L.
Aquatic Insects in the Adlrondacks. (Bulletin No. 47, New York State
Museum.) By J. Gr. Needham. Albany, U.S.A. Sept. 1901.
In this bulky and extremely interesting bulletin we have the result
of ten weeks spent by Dr. Needham and his assistant, Mr. C. Betten,
in examining the aquatic insect fauna of this district in the north-east
of the State of New York. Dr. Needham's work, especially in con-
nection with the Neuroptera, is getting well known amongst English
entomologists, and by them this report will be read with interest.
The entomological field-station in the Adirondacks was taken up " to
collect and study the habits of aquatic insects, paying special attention
to the conditions necessary for the existence of the various species,
their relative value as food for fishes, the relations of the forms to each
other, and their life-histories." Accordingly, " the routine work of the
station consisted in collecting and studying aquatic insects in all their
stages of development, in conducting feeding experiments, in making
quantitative studies of the life of certain situations, in gathering the
materials for the study of the natural and habitual food of trout, bull-
frogs, and some of the larger species of dragon-flies, in runnmg trap-
lanterns, and sending their nightly catch to the State museum, &c."
As a result, about one hundred life-histories were worked out in more
or less detail, material additions were made to the list of insects
occurring in the State, while ten new species and two new genera
were discovered. In the 213 pages of text there are forty-two illus-
trations, while there are in addition no less than thirty-five plates,
several of being them coloured. Would not many of the remote and
less-known British and Irish lakes repay similar close attention ?
W. J. Lucas.
Genera Insectorum. (Published by P. Wytsman, Brussels.) Fasc.
3 : Coleoptera Clavicornia, Fam. Lathridiidre, by R. P. Belon.
Pp. 1-40 ; 1 Plate. — Fasc. 6 : Lepidoptera-Rhopalocera, Fam.
Papilionidse, sect. Troides, by R. H. F. Rippon. Pp. 1-15 ;
2 Coloured Plates. (1902.)
The plan of this work is to provide a systematic account of all the
genera of the Insecta, including a list of Species. Having regard to
our fragmentary knowledge of certain families, considerable time must
necessarily elapse before the completion, but if all the groups are
treated in the same manner as those before us, the work will retain a
296 THE ENTOMOLOGIST.
very hiji^h position in entomological literature. The paper is sub-
stantial and the printing clear, while the size is convenient. We have
only two parts for review, but apparently each part is paged separately
and complete in itself. After a general survey of classification, a key
to the genera is given, followed by a description of each genus, a list
of their several species (with synonymy), accompanied by their geo-
graphical distribution. The tliird fascicule summarizes the Lathri-
diidjB, a family of tiny clavicoru beetles, of which 5 tribes are accepted,
containing 22 genera and 435 species ; these are elucidated by a plate
containing 28 species. The sixth fascicule is treated in a more sump-
tuous fashion, being adorned with two plates, embracing some fourteen
coloured figures and eight details of venation. Six genera of " Troides "
(Oruithoptera, &c.) are upheld, and 46 species are enumerated, of
which, however, little more than thirty are considered by Rippon to
be good species.
G. W. K.
E. P. Felt. (a) " Elm Leaf Beetle in New York State," Ed. 2
57th Bull. New York State Mus., pp. 1-43; 8 Plates
(1 coloured) and 2 text figures. Aug., 1902. — {j3) " 17tii Rep.
of the State Entomologist for 1901;"' 58rd Bull. New York
State Mus., pp. 699—925 ; 6 Plates and 29 text figures. Aug.,
1902.
These two recent bulletins maintain the high repute of the pub-
lications of the New York State Entomologist. The 57th (No. 262
of the State University) being a revision of the 20th (June, 1898).
Although comparatively easy to control, the elm -leaf beetle
(Galenicella luteola) is still the cause of extensive injuries to elms
in cities and villages along the Hudson, and is regarded by Dr. Felt
as the most important natural enemy of shade-trees in New York
State. The causes for this condition of afl'airs are not hard to find,
as the majority, if they notice the work of this pest at all, are inclined
to trust in Providence and hope that its ravages will not be as severe
the next season." The beetle is widely distributed over Europe, and
is abundant and destructive in parts of Germany, France, Italy, and
Austria. It is supposed to have been introduced into America about
1834, and its extension there now is from north of Massachusetts to
North Carolina. It was noted in Albany about 1892, in 1897 most
of the European elms in the streets were completely defoliated, and it
is computed that fully 1000 elms were destroyed within the city limits
in 1898. Dr. Felt cites cases even more lamentable in other towns.
A coloured plate shows the metamorphoses, the other illustrations
consisting of photographs of damage, spraying operations, and so forth.
This bulletin should be as necessary to the restricted European
worker as to the American.
The chief pest noticed hi the 53rd Bulletin (No. 268 of the State
University) is the Hessian Fly {Cecidoini/id di'structor), the rest of the
report being taken up chiefly with a description of the Entomologic
Exhibit, which must have been of exceptional interest, at the Pan-
American Exhibition in 1901.
G. W. K.
^^^ Of Co„(^
Entoniologist, December, 1902.
Plate IV.
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THE ENTOMOLOGIST
Vol. XXXV.l DECEMBER, 1902. [No. 475.
LIFE-HISTORY OP VANESSA ANTIOPA.
By F. W. Frohawk, M.B.O.U., F.E.S.
I AM deeply indebted to Mr. Frederic Raine for his kindness
in procuring for me living examples of V. antiojxi, which has
enabled me to work out the life-history of this interesting species.
On the 7th of April last I received from this gentleman eight
females and three males, alive, which he captured at Hyeres on
the 5th; again, on the 7th, he caught two males and one female,
and these he also sent me, arriving on thej 9th. Five females
of the first consignment I placed on two growing plants of willow,
the same morning they reached me, but owing to the continuance
of cold dull weather they remained quiet until the 13th, and on
the 14th, with bright sunshine at midday, I had the pleasure of
watching one of the females deposit a number of eggs, and made
a sketch of her in the act. She clung to a small stem, and de-
posited 192 eggs in one batch, which encircled the stem ; while
depositing the end of the abdomen curves from side to side of the
branch ; the ovipositor, feeling for the last egg laid, carefully
places another beside it, in circles round the stem, working
upwards, until the batch is completed. On this day another
batch was deposited by another female, and others on the
following days ; so that by the 25th eight batches were laid.
These five females continued depositing at intervals for several
weeks, and the last eggs were laid in small batches on
June 27th.
On May 21st four batches were laid, consisting of about 450
eggs, the smallest batch containing 53, and the largest about 160.
On May 27th another lot of eggs deposited in four batches, the
smallest batch of 3 doz. and the largest 170 — in all 336. All five
females still alive on May 25th. The first one died on the 26th ;
the other four were quite lively, and had a big drink each after
ENTOM. — DECEMBER, 1902. 2 B
298
THK KNTOMOLOGIST.
depositing the 336 eggs. Another female died on June 4th ; the
third one died on June 22nd. On June 27th 100 more eggs
were deposited in batches ; these were the last eggs laid. The
following day another female died, and on June 30th the last one
succumbed, having lived in my possession exactly three months
(eighty -four days).
From the above it will be seen that this species deposits its
eggs in two or three or even more batches, averaging from about
150 to 250 eggs in a batch. When a stout stem is selected for
the eggs, the batch does not encircle it, but only covers that por-
tion (generally about half the circumference, and always on' the
under side) which the abdomen can cover with the ovipositor.
These five females laid over 2000 eggs— as well as I could count
them, I found there were about 2200 ; therefore the complement
of eggs laid by antiopa numbers between 400 and 500. When
resting these butterflies usually clustered together at the top of
the gauze covering the plant.
The egg measures ^^^ in. high, of an oblong form, and having,
as a rule, eight, but occasionally nine, longitudinal keels, com-
mencing below the summit, and rising prominently ; they then
gradually decrease in height, and disappear before reaching the
base ; they are fluted, and resemble white frosted glass ; the
spaces between the keels are slightly concaved, and very finely
fluted transversely, the ridges being extremely fine. The micro-
pyle is slightly raised in the centre, and is finely granulated ;
near the base the surface is faintly ridged longitudinally; the base
is firmly embedded in glutinous substance. The colour when first
laid is a rather deep ochreous yellow, inclining to olive-yellow,
which very gradually deepens to an olive-brown to the naked eye ;
but when viewed under the microscope the whole surface presents
a finely mottled appearance, resembling in pattern crocodile-
skin, the ground colour being amber-brown, with light amber-
yellow reticulations ; this pattern is under the shell. When
about fourteen days old one batch of eggs had changed to a deep
lilac-red, approaching indian-red, and on the eighteenth day had
assumed a deep leaden grey, and hatched on the 21st. Other
batches did not attain such a deep red colour, the normal change
of colouring being from a deep ochreous-yellow and olive-brown
to a deep red-brown ; then the larva begins to show under the
shell, exhibiting a pale ochreous body and dark brown head,
which gradually turns to black ; the shell is then of a glistening
pearl-grey. To the naked eye the entire batch appears of
a beautiful silver-grey-blue just before hatching. The larva
begins making its exit by nibbling tiny holes in a circle
round the crown of the egg; this continues until it is com-
pletely cut round ; then it pushes off the cap and emerges. It
immediately starts spinning a carpet of silk as it crawls away,
spinning as it goes, crawling to the extremity of the branch.
LIFE-HISTOKY OF VANESSA ANTIOPA. 299
They all do precisely the same, and at once form a colony on the
last cluster of leaves, covering the bases with web, on which they
live and feed in company.
The first batch hatched on May 3rd, remaining in the egg
state nineteen days ; this batch contained 192 eggs, all of which
hatched, excepting one. On May 5th another batch hatched, and
all did the same as the first lot; and on the 16th a very large
batch hatched, the eggs being on the same branch as those which
hatched on the 5th ; and directlj' the larvse emerged they all started
spinning and crawling up the branch till they arrived at the part
already covered with web by the previous brood, and, following
the web-covered branches, every individual of the large batch
ascended and joined the elder company, which were eleven days
old ; the two families then formed one big community, the ones
just hatched nestling among their larger companions. On the
17th of May another big batch emerged, which divided into two
companies.
The larva, directly after emergence, measures J in. long ; the
head is large and shining black, and a few fine black bristles are
scattered over the surface ; the segmental divisions are clearly
defined, each segment having about four transverse wrinkles and
ten black hairs (five on each side) ; those on the dorsal surface
are very long, slightly curved, and three in number above the
spiracle ; immediately behind the spiracle is another, which pro-
jects laterally ; and slightly in front and below the spiracle is the
fifth, which curves downwards ; all these are black, with shining
black bulbous bases; the surrounding skin is bare of the minute
black granulations which cover the whole of the surface of the
body; these bare places form a pale circular disk round each
hair, and also the spiracles, which are black ; the claspers are
granulated with black at the base, and have two whitish spines
directed downwards ; the foot is large, and furnished with very
ample claws. The entire colouring of the body is pale olive-
yellow, inclining to citron.
The larvas always rest in a dense mass, all crowded together,
some on top of the others ; they cover the leaves with web. As
soon as the leaves are stripped of the cuticle the entire company
move to a fresh supply. If disturbed they curve upward the
anterior portion of the body, and remain in that attitude for a
short time. When the whole company are slightly on the move
in the sun, they form a curious sparkling mass, due to the im-
mense number of glistening black heads.
Shortly before the first moult the larva measures -j^ in. long ;
it is uniformly cylindrical, the segments deeply incised and very
glossy. The ground colour is amber-brown, with a medio-dorsal
series of longitudinal dark brown marks, and mottlings of the
same colour form a dark spiracular band ; the spiracles are also
amber-brown ; the sub-dorsal surface is freckled with brown.
2b2
300 THE ENTOMOLOGIST.
When undergoing the change for moulting they occasionally
move about on the web-covered leaves, a habit unusual among
other species of butterflies.
The first moult occurred on May 20th. Directly after moulting
the head is ochreous, but in a very short time turns jet-black
and shining ; also there are ochreous dorsal markings, which
soon change to dull brown.
Before the second moult, when twenty-three days old, it
measures f in. long ; the body is covered with minute black
points, being so small that they give the glossy surface a granular
appearance ; besides these, tiny black warts are sprinkled over
the whole surface ; these vary in size, and each emits a tiny
black hair ; there are also longitudinal rows of small black
tubercles ; the first is medio-dorsal, the second sub-dorsal, the
third super-spiracular, and the fourth sub-spiracular ; these
all terminate in a rather long, slender, curving, black bristle,
and several shorter ones spring from the sides of each tubercle ;
the spiracles are black ; the ground colour is brown freckled
with ochreous, and a broad band of the latter colour extends
dorsally, which is broken up by a medio-dorsal series of dark
markings as in the previous stage ; the head is shining black and
beset with hairs ; legs shining black ; the claspers are clear ochre-
yellow, the same colour as the dorsal band. The larvae feed upon
the topmost leaves, at first eating the basal portion of them,
which hang down by the weight of the larvae, the ends resting on
the next lot of leaves, and feeding on these in turn, and so on,
working their way downwards, feeding as they go, eating all the
leaves, and covering everything with web.
Second moult on May 27th. Before the third moult — twenty-
nine days old — it measures j^^ in. long. The ground colour is a
deep ashy or purplish black ; the dorsal band orange, broken up
with black markings as in former stage ; immediately below the
spiracles are very faint crescentic markings, almost invisible ;
the tubercles of the previous stage are now developed into
moderately long black spine-like tubercles, each terminating
in a longish curved white bristle, and numerous much smaller
lateral hairs, and all the minute body-warts bear white hairs
instead of black as in the last skin ; the head and legs are
shining black, with fine white hairs; the claspers are amber
colour. The medio-dorsal series of spines are very short, and
commence on the sixth segment and end on the eleventh, one on
each of these six segments. The^ still remain gregarious. When
one branch is denuded of leaves, 'they all descend until reaching
another branch, which they ascend to the end, and, again
clustering together in a mass, feed downwards as before ; when
moving they are extremely active, and feed rapidly. Warm
weather greatly influences the rapidity of their growth, cold
retarding them considerably.
GONBPTBRYX RHAMNI AND CLEOPATRA IN IRELAND. 301
Third moult on June 2nd. Before the fourth moult -thirty-
four days old — it measures I5 in. long; the ground colour is
velvety black, otherwise very similar to previous stage, but the
dorsal orange band is richer and deeper in colour, and there are
numerous very small pearly-white warts sprinkled over the body
(mostly forming circles round each segment on the two posterior
wrinkles) ; these, as well as the minute black warts, emit fine
curved white hairs ; the black spines also bear fine white hairs ;
the dorsal spines terminate with black spine-like bristles ; the
super- and sub-spiracular spines end with longish curved white
hairs with black tips ; the black head is bilobed and cleft on the
crown, and covered with white hairs ; legs shining black ; claspers
bright tawny, excepting the anal pair, which are black ; on the
eleventh segment is a small medio-dorsal shining black disk, and
on the twelfth segment is a much larger one, which closely
resembles the head. They still live in close company.
(To be continued.)
GONEPTERYX RHAMNI -AND CLEOPATRA IN IRELAND.
By E. Bagwell- Purefoy.
In the December number of the ' Entomologist ' for the
year 1896 (xsix. 363), I reported the successful introduction of
Gonepterijx rhamni into the County Tipperary. A few further
notes on the subject may possibly prove of interest. To re-
capitulate as briefly as possible : — In 1890, and again in 1894, a
number of plants of llhamnus frangula, and a few of R. catharticus
were planted about over grounds which may be roughly estimated
at five hundred acres. In the autumn of the latter year, between
two and three hundred imagines of G. rhamni were turned out in
the most suitable spots of the same grounds. The result, as
observed in 1896, was of a most gratifying nature; the butterflies
had "caught on," and had enormously increased in numbers.
During the five succeeding years I was continuously abroad,
and plants and insects alike were left strictly to take care of
themselves. Eeturning home once more in the autumn of 1901,
I visited the South of Ireland about the middle of September,
and found that the plants, on the whole, had done well, many
of the R. frangula having grown into fine big trees ; some of the
R. catharticus, too, had not only survived, but had developed into
strong plants. The first bit of sunshine revealed the fact that
G. rhamni, also, was still flourishing, and, during a fortnight of
fair weather, I counted a goodly number on the wing.
Early in November I planted out one hundred small trees of
R. frangula around the borders of the place, and, at the same
302 THE ENTOMOLOGIST.
time, I placed about in the Hhrubberies a few each of some eight
different foreign species of Ilhamnus. The unfavourable spring
of this year kept me from paying the district a visit before
June 24th, and this date proved quite early enough. The
number of ova and small larvae which I observed was quite
astonishing. From off the newly planted R. frangula I took
over three hundred and fifty larvce ; half of these I placed on
older trees better able to support them, and the other half I
brought in to rear myself, but of these more anon. I may men-
tion here that it is not the healthiest trees with abundance of
foliage that receive the best patronage, but rather the weaklings —
sometimes, indeed, those that are just dying off — and many larvae
must perish every year through this peculiar 2)enchant of their
mothers.
The "foreigners" had all been planted in pet, sunny spots,
and were growing well. Five out of the eight species received
attention from G. rliamni, and four out of the five produced fine-
sized larvae in due course. The following are the plants in
question: — R. latifoliiis, R.tinctoriiis, R.piLrsJdanus, R.imeritinus,
and R. alpinus. A considerable number of eggs were laid on
the last-named plant, but the little larvae did very badly on it.
Of six that I brought in, I only succeeded in obtaining one pupa.
This pupa was considerably less than half the normal size, and
failed to produce an imago. Latifolius was the only evergreen
species which was noticed, and it produced the largest larvae I
have seen.
On June 16th I received twelve dozen pupae of Gonepteryx
cleopatra, which Mr. H. W. Head, of Scarborough, had procured
for me from South Austria. Some of the insects began to
emerge before I was able to get over to Ireland on the 24th, but
these were kept snug in a big tin box with wet grass, and in no
way suffered. The last imago appeared on July 1st, and, all
told, I had been able to liberate about one hundred healthy
insects. The place is peculiarly suited to an experiment of this
kind, the young plantations being intersected by broad rides,
sheltered from the wind and open to the sun, with an abundance
of wild flowers, and, lastly, a total absence for miles around of
the man with the net and collecting box. Cleopatra quickly
settled down to her changed surroundings, and very comely she
looked floating about in the sun — a sun which failed not during
the first few days of her liberation. Bramble blossoms proved
the chief attraction at first, and later on thistle-heads, scabious,
knapweed, and other composites.
I had found it very hard to obtain any information about
this insect, and was working under the impression that it was
single-brooded, after the manner of our native G. rhamni. I
was, however, quickly undeceived. Pairing commenced at once,
and on July 13th I observed a female depositing ova on a big
GONBPTEEYX RHAMNI AND CLEOPATRA IN IRELAND. 303
tree of R. frangida. The male insects are the most ardent
suitors imaginable, and I have many times watched one for over
half an hour persisting in a courtship which was evidently not
welcome. In this particular case the female had laid several
eggs on the tree, and was proceeding down the ride to another
bush, when she was seized upon by a male, and the usual
struggle for supremacy began. I watched them for many minutes,
till they finally disappeared over the tops of the larch trees. (I
have since had access to certain German works on European
butterflies at the Natural History Museum, South Kensington,
and find that the fact that this variety is double-brooded is
well known.) From the middle of July onwards the work of
ovipositing was busily proceeded with, H. frangula receiving
nearly all the attention, R. catharticus, however, being noticed
occasionally.
Up to this point all had gone smoothly, but, alas ! this was
not to continue : the little larvae, on emerging from their eggs,
did not look upon R. frangula as food fit to be eaten. Some,
indeed, nibbled a little, and kept themselves alive for three or
four days, and then disappeared, but the large majority passed
away at once, and were no more seen. Better luck, however,
attended those few which found themselves born into the world
on R. catharticus. Provided they had been laid on, or had access
to, the tender, only half-unfolded leaves of a young shoot, their
fate was never in doubt. They crawled into one of these half-
closed leaves and remained there until after the first moult, or
perhaps longer. For the first half of their larval career they
ate nothing but the very youngest leaves, and even when nearly
full-grown would refuse foliage which was in the least 4egree old
or tough. Thus I was confronted by the annoying spectacle of
the mother butterfly almost invariably choosing the useless food-
plant whereon to place her eggs, and passing by the one really
suitable for her purpose. On several occasions I have seen a
female, after hovering all round a bush of catharticus, refuse it, and
proceed at once to a neighbouring frangula and lay on it. The
full-grown larva of cleopatra is generally slightly superior in size
to that of rhamni, and exhibits a bluish hue over the dorsal
surface, the white lateral lines being remarkably clear. The
pupal stage, I found, lasted twenty-five days, sometimes a little
longer, and for eight to ten days previous to emergence the orange
colour on the fore wings of the males showed through the wing-
cases as a broad patch of colour. The previous autumn I had
planted out three or four small plants of R. alaternus var. an-
gustifolius, and I placed several newly-hatched larvae on sprigs of
this plant, but they would not touch it. This I am quite unable
to explain, alatei-nus being the natural food-plant of cleopatra in
Southern Europe.
As soon as I had quite convinced myself that R. frangula
304 THE ENTOMOLOGIST.
could not rear them, I proceeded to collect all the eggs I could
find on that plant, and transfer them to R. catharticus, by the
simple expedient of pinning the portion of leaf wheron they had
been deposited to the most suitable situation on the new shrub.
In this manner I procured a large number of larv^, the food-
plant evidently suiting them admirably, as comparatively few
failed to grow and wax strong.
On August 4th, a bright, sunny day after several dull ones,
I placed a box containing a number of my home-reared G. rhamni
beneath a clump of brambles and left it open, so that the insects
could fly as soon as they felt inclined to. Eeturning to the spot
a couple of hours later, I was surprised to see no less than four
males of cleopatra hovering over the brambles, but on drawing
quietly near their presence was soon explained to me. Beneath
each Cleopatra was the quivering form of a female rhamni, with
abdomen pointing upwards and wings half open and flattened
out in a most unnatural position. The unexpected and un-
welcome suitors were most persistent in their court, and by
sheer rough treatment one after the other succeeded in forcing
the object of its attentions to take to wing, when the pair would
soar high in the air and then return low down among the
herbage, the female doing her utmost to escape. Later on in
the month the wild chase of rhamni by cleopatra was a matter of
common occurrence, though whether any results were obtained
is more than doubtful.
At the end of August I had to return to England, and it was
necessary to abandon my caterpillars to their own devices. I,
however, took with me half a dozen pupse* (just turned), and
about fifty larvse of cleopatra, which were all doing well. On the
R. catharticus of the hedgerows of Bucks I found no succulent
young leaves to offer them, and the want of these made itself
apparent at once. Many turned prematurely, and many died.
How those that I left behind have fared I know not, but their
parents were still on the wing, healthy and strong, up to the
end of August, and I am of opinion that they will so have con-
tinued through September.
NEW SPECIES OF INDIAN CHRYSIDIDiE.
By Major C. G. Nurse, Indian Staff Corps.
The species described in the following paper form part of a
collection of Hymenoptera made by me during the past two
years at Deesa in Northern Gujarat, Quetta in Baluchistan, and
during a two months' trip to Kashmir in 1901.
* Two of these pupse kindly sent to me by Mr. Purefoy produced fine
specimens of cleopatra in September last. — E. S.
NEW SPECIES OF INDIAN CHKYS[DIDiE. 305
NOTOZUS KASHMIKENSIS, n. Sp.
5 (? . Front from above base of antennae to about half- way to
vertex concave and finely striate, the striae running in a circular
direction, with the base of antennae as centre ;^ remainder of head and
thorax somewhat coarsely punctured, except the extreme base of
mesonotum, which is finely punctured ; abdomen very finely and
minutely punctured ; inner orbits parallel ; mucro conspicuous and very
coarsely punctured, rounded at apex; abdomen about the length of the
head and thorax united, very convex above, gradually rounded towards
the extreme apex, which is transverse or slightly emarginate. Deep
metallic blue or blue-green, tiie antenuje and tarsi rufo-testaceous ;
wings hyaline at base, the outer half infuscated, tegulae shining bronzy
brown ; abdomen and legs covered with a very sparse and short
greyish pubescence, only perceptible with a strong lens ; the antennae,
when examined under a microscope, are closely punctured and densely
liairy. Long. 4-5 mm,
Hab. Kashmir, 5000 ft., on the banks of the Jhelum ;
several specimens.
This genus has not been previously recorded from India.
Ellampus timidus, n. sp.
$ . Head, pronotum, and mesonotum shallowly and somewhat
irregularly, scutellum, postscutellum, and median segment more
coarsely and closely punctured, abdomen impunctate ; the incision at
the apex of abdomen, characteristic of the genus, small and incon-
spicuous. Deep metallic blue; antennae piceons, microscopically
hairy; tarsi testaceous; clypeus with a few long hairs, legs with
greyish pubescence, head, thorax, and abdomen almost entirely smooth ;
wings hyaline, nervures testaceous, tegulas brownish testaceous.
(? . Similar; more conspicuously shining; vertex of head, pro-
notum, and mesonotum above almost, if not quite, impunctate.
Long. 2-5-3 mm.
Hah. Quetta ; Peshin ; five specimens.
This species has not previously been recorded from India.
HOLOPYGA CUPREATA, n. Sp.
^ . Front from below vertex to base of antennae very concave,
and finely transversely striate, head behind ocelli somewhat finely
punctured ; remainder of head, thorax, and median segment coarsely,
abdomen closely and finely punctured ; head slightly wider than pro-
notum, abdomen slightly longer and broader than thorax ; a little
short, sparse pubescence, visible only with a lens, on the head, legs,
and abdomen ; a trace of a median longitudinal carina on 2nd
abdominal segment. Head and thorax dark blue, the vertex, pro-
notum, and mesonotum with a greenish tinge ; abdomen brilliant
coppery golden, scape of antennae dark blue, flagellum and tarsi very
dark testaceous, almost black ; wings hyaline at base, the outer half
tinged with fuscous, tegulae black. Long. 5-6 mm.
Hah. Kashmir, 5000-6000 ft. ; two specimens.
306 THE ENTOMOLOGIST,
Hedychridium perveksum, n. sp.
$ $ . Vertex of head, and thorax, closely, but not very finely,
abdomen minutely and regularly punctured— all the punctures some-
what shallow ; front concave, with stiff, white pubescence, which
hides the sculpturmg ; pronotum smaller than the head, its sides
almost parallel ; posterior angles of median segment acute and con-
spicuous ; abdomen wider than head and thorax. Metallic green, with
some bluish reflections, especially about the joints of the segments
and near the tegulse ; abdomen with a slight coppery effulgence ;
flagellum of antennae dark rufous ; the whole of the head, thorax,
abdomen, and legs covered with very short greyish pubescence ; wings
hyaline and iridescent, nervures testaceous, tegulse metallic blue or
blue-green. Long, 2-5-3 mm.
Hah. Peshin ; Quetta ; five specimens.
The smallest species hitherto described from India.
Hedychridium selectum, n. sp.
$ . Head and thorax closely and finely, postscutellum more
coarsely, abdomen minutely and closely punctured ; pronotum and
head subequal, the former with its sides almost parallel ; abdomen
wider than thorax, very convex, 3rd segment almost vertical. Dark
blue ; 2nd abdominal segment with purple reflections ; antenna dark
rufous, tarsi testaceous ; wings hyaliue, their apical margins very
slightly darker, nervures and tegulae testaceous ; a little sparse, short,
greyish pubescence on head, thorax, abdomen, and legs. Long, 3"5 mm.
Hah. Quetta ; a single specimen.
This species is easily distinguished from H. perversum above
by its being dark blue, and not light green, and by its longer
pronotum. The basal nervure is also more sharply curved in
the present species than in H. perversum.
Chrysis jalala, n. sp.
? . Slenderly built ; head, except front, thorax, and abdomen,
closely but not very finely punctured, and very sparsely covered with
short greyish pubescence ; clypeus emarginate anteriorly, front con-
cave from below a transverse ridge which is situated just below the
vertex, covered with a somewhat sparse white pubescence, and finely
transversely striate in the centre ; head, thorax, and first two abdo-
minal segments of about equal width ; head, when viewed from above,
equal in size to pronotum ; scutellum and postscutellum somewhat
more coarsely punctured than the rest of the segments ; abdomen as
long as the head and thorax united, the 2nd segment with a median
longitudinal carina, 3rd segment rounded at apex, with a conspicuous
subapical row of fovese. Dark blue, the clypeus bright green, the
pronotum, mesonotum, scutellum and postscutellum, and a spot on
the 3rd abdominal segment just above the subapical row of fovesB,
green ; the first abdominal segment, except the extreme base and a
line on the centre above not reaching the apex, and the apical two-
thirds of the 2nd abdominal segment bright coppery golden ; second
and following joints of flagellum of antennae dark red; tarsi dark
NEW SPECIES OF INDTAN CHRYSIDID^. 307
testaceous, almost black ; remainder of legs metallic green ; wings
hyaline, tegnlas dark blue, radial cell closed.
(J . Similar ; the patch of blue on the 2nd abdominal segment not
transverse, but somewhat wedge-shaped ; no green spot on 3rd abdo-
minal segment ; antennae light red below, except the first two joints,
which are metallic green. Long. 6-5-9 mm.
Hah. Kashmir, 5000-6000 ft. ; three specimens.
Chrysis kashmirensis, n. sp.
2 J" . Head closely and regularly, thorax somewhat coarsely punc-
tured and rugose, abdomen with the first segment coarsely punctured,
but not rugose, 2nd and 3rd segments finely punctured, especially at
base of 2nd segment ; the whole insect sparsely pubescent ; clypeus
slightly emarginate, and with a median carina ; front not forming an
angle with the vertex, and the puncturing little, if any, finer than on
the remainder of head ; head, when viewed from above, considerably
larger than pronotum ; abdomen nearly as long as head and thorax
united ; pronotum with a shght median depression ; a ho\low at the
base of postscutellum ; the 1st and 2nd abdominal segments with an
ill-defined median carina ; 3rd segment rounded, with subapical fove^.
Dark blue or blue-green ; base of mandibles, clypeus and front, scape
and first two joints of flagellum of antennae, and the legs, except the
tarsi, light metallic green ; mandibles, remainder of flagellum of
antennae, and the tarsi, reddish black ; abdomen below light metallic
green, the base of the apical segment and two large basal maculae on
2nd segment, reddish brown ; wings hyaline, apex of fore wing with a
very slight fuscous tinge, which is sometimes confined to the radial
cell; tegulffi dark blue, finely punctured; radial cell of fore wing
closed. Long. 9-10 mm.
Hah. Kashmir, 5000-6000 ft. ; five specimens.
ChRYSIS QUiERITA, D. Sp.
J . Eather stoutly built ; head, thorax, and abdomen closely, but
not very finely, punctured, and covered with a short, sparse, greyish
pubescence ; head about as wide as pronotum and, when viewed from
above, subequal to it ; abdomen not quite so long as head and thorax
united, vertex overhanging the front, but with no distinct ridge
between them ; front concave, closely and finely punctured, and with
stiff, somewhat sparse, white pubescence ; prpnotum with a median
longitudinal depression ; 3rd abdominal segment tri-sinuate, with sub-
apical foveae. Dark blue, with a greenish tint in some lights ; front
and scutellum light green ; mandibles, antenna, and tarsi black ;
wings hyaline, the radial cell subfuscous and closed. Long. 6 mm.
Hah. Deesa ; a single example.
Chrysis abuensis, n. sp.
? . Head and thorax finely and rugosely, abdomen finely and
closely punctured ; a little short greyish pubescence on the cheeks and
on 2nd and 3rd abdominal segments ; front, basal half of antennae,
and legs with short white pubescen(?e ; head at least as wide as pro-
notum, and, viewed from above, about equal to it ; abdomen about the
308 THE ENTOMOLOGIST.
length of head and thorax united; clypeus convex, its anterior margin
slightly concave ; a conspicuous | -shaped carina in front of anterior
ocellus, and the front below it slightly concave, finely and very
closely punctured, the punctures running into striae, and with a median
longitudinal carina ; a median longitudinal depression on the basal
half of pronotum ; 1st and 2nd abdominal segments with a trace of a
median longitudinal carina, 3rd segment rounded posteriorly, with
subapical fovefe. Dark blue ; front, pronotum, and the centre ot
1st abdominal segment green ; scutellum and large lateral spots on
1st abdominal segment coppery golden ; postscutellum bright greenish
golden ; scape and first two joints of flagellum of antennae blue or
blue-green, remaining joints and tarsi reddish black ; fore wing sub-
fuscous, hind wing hyaline, radial cell of fore wing closed.
(?. Differs only in having the vertex of the head green, and the
mesonotum, and 2nd and 8rd abdominal segments of a greenish blue
colour ; the eyes are somewhat convergent below, not parallel, as in
the female, and the joints of the antennae are thicker and somewhat
shorter. Long. 9-11 mm.
Hab. Mt. Abu ; common in September and October.
ChRYSIS CHAVANiE, n. Sp.
? . Head and thorax closely but somewhat irregularly, abdomen
rather more regularly and finely punctured ; head wider than pro-
notum, the latter with sides almost parallel ; 1st abdominal segment
with a deep median longitudinal indentation at base, 2nd and 3rd
segments with traces of a carina, apical segment without teeth, slightly
sinuate. Head and thorax dark blue, the mesonotum with greenish
reflections; abdomen light metallic green, with a coppery effulgence
on 2nd and 3rd segments ; legs dark blue ; flagellum of antennae
piceous ; tarsi dark red or reddish black ; the whole insect more or
less covered with rather sparse greyish pubescence ; wings hyaline,
fore wing with the central portion very slightly infuscated, nervures
dark testaceous. Long. 6 mm.
Hab. Quetta ; a single specimen.
(To be continued.)
ON THE BUTTERFLIES COLLECTED IN EQUATORIAL
AFRICA BY CAPTAIN CLEMENT SYKES.
By Emily Mary Shakpe.
(Continued from p. 280.)
35. Acr^a Cecilia (a variety). — a, <? . March from Usoga to
Nandi; April, 1900.
This species has the black spots on the primaries larger,
especially those at the end of the discoidal cell. The same thing
occurs with the discal spots on the secondaries, the first three
being black streaks ; with the costal one united to the hind
marginal border.
BUTTEEFLIES COLLECT